Dictionary

white man en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A man of European descent or having that appearance.
   • Therefore he whacked the old n***** mercilessly, while a big crowd of his people watched him, thunderstruck, till some man, - I was told the chief's son, - in desperation at hearing the old chap yell, made a tentative jab with a spear at the white man - and of course it went quite easy between the shoulder-blades. 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 198:
2. White people collectively; white culture.
   • […] very little attempt seems to have been made so far to deal with the whole problem of the African in contact with white man’s law, […] 1933, G. St. J. Orde Browne, British Justice and the African, in the Journal of the Royal African Society, vol. 32, no. 127
   • Island girl, What you wanting with the white man's world? Island girl, Black boy want you in his island world. 1975, “Island Girl”, in Bernie Taupin (lyrics), Rock of the Westies, performed by Elton John:
   • Well the Aboriginals are trying to step forward a little but in a lot of ways the white man is still keeping them down, in a politeful sort of way. 1992, Bruce Shaw, When the Dust Come in Between, page 149:
   • The arrival of the white man brought new things and new ideas, but also new wars and new diseases.
   • Savages are commonly supposed to be the slaves of custom to a far greater degree than the White Man, who by contrast appears as the child of reason. 1927, A. M. Hocart, Are Savages Custom-Bound?, in Man, vol. 27
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see white, man.
   • The white men are always put on that side of the board which commences by row 1, and the black men are placed opposite. 1883, Henry Richter, Chess Simplified!, page 4:
   • We will suppose that you are the player of the white men, and that your opponent[,] the player of the black men[,] is sitting opposite to you, ready for battle. 1908, The Chess Amateur, volume 2, page 39:

Forms

Coordinates

black man

Deriveds

white man’s burden · play the white man

Synonyms

Angrez · paleface · ice monkey · balanda · umlungu · joganosh · gussuk · gringo · mzungu · honky · firangi · European · mlungu · gora · mayonnaise face · haole · white man · Eurangutan · whiteboy · pinky · pigskin · Whitoid · roundeye · kabloona · leucoderm · snow roach · migaloo · snow bunny · cumskin · cracker · whitey · béké · mayo monkey · bule · cac · vanilla · white · hoogie · ang moh · ofay · hoojah · wonderbread · toubab · vazaha · paddy · Yakubian · gweilo · white devil · farang · wigger · whiteface · melanin-challenged · oyinbo · Pakeha · wadjela · Caucasian · ivory · white bread · abelungu · mayo · cornstarch crusader · saltine · laowai · Yankee

Translations (2)

fi valkoinen mies (whites collectively) · tpw karaíba (whites collectively)