nigger
[ nig-er ]
/ ˈnɪg ər /
usage alert about nigger
The term
nigger is now probably the most offensive word in English. Its degree of offensiveness has increased markedly in recent years, although it has been used in a derogatory manner since at least the Revolutionary War. The senses labeled
Extremely Disparaging and Offensive represent meanings that are deeply insulting and are used when the speaker deliberately wishes to cause great offense. It is so profoundly offensive that a euphemism has developed for those occasions when the word itself must be discussed, as in court or in a newspaper editorial: “the n-word.”
Despite this, the sense referring to a “black person” is sometimes used self-referentially among African Americans in a neutral or familiar way. The sense referring to other victims of prejudice, especially when used descriptively, as to denounce that prejudice, is not normally considered disparaging—as in “The Irish are the niggers of Europe” from Roddy Doyle's The Commitments —but the other uses are considered contemptuous and hostile.
Despite this, the sense referring to a “black person” is sometimes used self-referentially among African Americans in a neutral or familiar way. The sense referring to other victims of prejudice, especially when used descriptively, as to denounce that prejudice, is not normally considered disparaging—as in “The Irish are the niggers of Europe” from Roddy Doyle's The Commitments —but the other uses are considered contemptuous and hostile.
noun
Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.
- a contemptuous term used to refer to a black person.
- a contemptuous term used to refer to a member of any dark-skinned people.
Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.
a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of any racial or ethnic origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.
a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by black people; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised.
Origin of nigger
1640–50; < French
nègre < Spanish
negro black
Words nearby nigger
nigerian,
nigerien,
nigga,
niggard,
niggardly,
nigger,
nigger heaven,
nigger of the narcissus, the,
niggle,
niggling,
nigh
Example sentences from the Web for nigger
British Dictionary definitions for nigger
nigger
/ (ˈnɪɡə) /
noun offensive, taboo
- an offensive term for a Black person
- (as modifier)nigger minstrels
an offensive term for a member of any dark-skinned race
nigger in the woodpile old-fashioned, offensive
a hidden snag or hindrance
Word Origin for nigger
C18: from C16 dialect
neeger, from French
nègre, from Spanish
Negro
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