See ofay on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "yo",
"3": "ófé",
"t": "to evade, disappear"
},
"expansion": "Yoruba ófé (“to evade, disappear”)",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown; perhaps from an African language (possibly Yoruba ófé (“to evade, disappear”)). Pig Latin for foe, though popularly posited, is probably not accurate.\nA possible point of origin is Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary, where the word is defined as \"Policeman or law enforcement, 'The Man'\".",
"forms": [
{
"form": "ofays",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "ofay (plural ofays)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "American English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English ethnic slurs",
"parents": [
"Ethnic slurs",
"Offensive terms",
"Terms by usage"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "44 56",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "27 73",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "19 81",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "[1929, Claude McKay, Banjo, published 1957, →ISBN, page 217:",
"text": "For example we have words like ofay, pink, fade, space, Mr. Charlie, cracker, peckawood, hoojah, and so on—nice words and bitter.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1983 May, Kurt Busiek, “The Chemistro Connection”, in Power Man and Iron Fist, volume 1, number 93, Marvel Comics Group:",
"text": "You get outa my alley, Lucas -- and take that ofay with you, hear?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1997, Don DeLillo, Underworld:",
"text": "The rival, the foe, the ofay, veins stretched and bulged between white knuckles.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A white person."
],
"id": "en-ofay-en-noun-qcoW7nC2",
"links": [
[
"ethnic",
"ethnic"
],
[
"slur",
"slur"
],
[
"white",
"white"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US, ethnic slur, slang) A white person."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "honky"
},
{
"word": "whitey"
},
{
"word": "white person"
}
],
"tags": [
"US",
"ethnic",
"slang",
"slur"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈoʊfeɪ/"
},
{
"homophone": "au fait"
}
],
"word": "ofay"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "yo",
"3": "ófé",
"t": "to evade, disappear"
},
"expansion": "Yoruba ófé (“to evade, disappear”)",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown; perhaps from an African language (possibly Yoruba ófé (“to evade, disappear”)). Pig Latin for foe, though popularly posited, is probably not accurate.\nA possible point of origin is Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary, where the word is defined as \"Policeman or law enforcement, 'The Man'\".",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more ofay",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most ofay",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "ofay (comparative more ofay, superlative most ofay)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "American English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English ethnic slurs",
"parents": [
"Ethnic slurs",
"Offensive terms",
"Terms by usage"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN:",
"text": "“You better tell your little ofay kid friend move along.”",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1984. Anthony Burgess, Enderby's Dark Lady",
"text": "‘Baby,’ April Elgar said, ‘you may be an uptight ofay milk-toast limey bastard, but you ain’t no fag.’"
},
{
"ref": "1959. Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun",
"text": "Everything is strictly peachy keen, as the ofay kids say."
}
],
"glosses": [
"White; white-skinned."
],
"id": "en-ofay-en-adj-D1Ntm3-Z",
"links": [
[
"ethnic",
"ethnic"
],
[
"slur",
"slur"
],
[
"White",
"white"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US, ethnic slur, slang) White; white-skinned."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"ethnic",
"slang",
"slur"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈoʊfeɪ/"
},
{
"homophone": "au fait"
}
],
"word": "ofay"
}
{
"categories": [
"English adjectives",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms derived from Yoruba",
"English terms with homophones",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "yo",
"3": "ófé",
"t": "to evade, disappear"
},
"expansion": "Yoruba ófé (“to evade, disappear”)",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown; perhaps from an African language (possibly Yoruba ófé (“to evade, disappear”)). Pig Latin for foe, though popularly posited, is probably not accurate.\nA possible point of origin is Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary, where the word is defined as \"Policeman or law enforcement, 'The Man'\".",
"forms": [
{
"form": "ofays",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "ofay (plural ofays)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English ethnic slurs",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "[1929, Claude McKay, Banjo, published 1957, →ISBN, page 217:",
"text": "For example we have words like ofay, pink, fade, space, Mr. Charlie, cracker, peckawood, hoojah, and so on—nice words and bitter.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1983 May, Kurt Busiek, “The Chemistro Connection”, in Power Man and Iron Fist, volume 1, number 93, Marvel Comics Group:",
"text": "You get outa my alley, Lucas -- and take that ofay with you, hear?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1997, Don DeLillo, Underworld:",
"text": "The rival, the foe, the ofay, veins stretched and bulged between white knuckles.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A white person."
],
"links": [
[
"ethnic",
"ethnic"
],
[
"slur",
"slur"
],
[
"white",
"white"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US, ethnic slur, slang) A white person."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "honky"
},
{
"word": "whitey"
},
{
"word": "white person"
}
],
"tags": [
"US",
"ethnic",
"slang",
"slur"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈoʊfeɪ/"
},
{
"homophone": "au fait"
}
],
"word": "ofay"
}
{
"categories": [
"English adjectives",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms derived from Yoruba",
"English terms with homophones",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "yo",
"3": "ófé",
"t": "to evade, disappear"
},
"expansion": "Yoruba ófé (“to evade, disappear”)",
"name": "der"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown; perhaps from an African language (possibly Yoruba ófé (“to evade, disappear”)). Pig Latin for foe, though popularly posited, is probably not accurate.\nA possible point of origin is Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary, where the word is defined as \"Policeman or law enforcement, 'The Man'\".",
"forms": [
{
"form": "more ofay",
"tags": [
"comparative"
]
},
{
"form": "most ofay",
"tags": [
"superlative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "ofay (comparative more ofay, superlative most ofay)",
"name": "en-adj"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "adj",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"American English",
"English ethnic slurs",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, London: Penguin Books, published 1980 (1981 printing), →ISBN:",
"text": "“You better tell your little ofay kid friend move along.”",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1984. Anthony Burgess, Enderby's Dark Lady",
"text": "‘Baby,’ April Elgar said, ‘you may be an uptight ofay milk-toast limey bastard, but you ain’t no fag.’"
},
{
"ref": "1959. Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun",
"text": "Everything is strictly peachy keen, as the ofay kids say."
}
],
"glosses": [
"White; white-skinned."
],
"links": [
[
"ethnic",
"ethnic"
],
[
"slur",
"slur"
],
[
"White",
"white"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(US, ethnic slur, slang) White; white-skinned."
],
"tags": [
"US",
"ethnic",
"slang",
"slur"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈoʊfeɪ/"
},
{
"homophone": "au fait"
}
],
"word": "ofay"
}
Download raw JSONL data for ofay meaning in All languages combined (4.2kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-08 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (9a96ef4 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.