"white trash" meaning in English

See white trash in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-white trash.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: A shortening, first attested in 1850, of poor white trash, which black slaves in the Southern United States were said to call white individuals who worked in servile positions (for example, as butlers). Etymology templates: {{m|en|poor white trash}} poor white trash Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} white trash (uncountable)
  1. (US, idiomatic, derogatory, ethnic slur, offensive) A poorly educated white person or, collectively, white people of low social status and often regarded as lazy, irresponsible, incompetent, etc. Tags: US, derogatory, ethnic, idiomatic, offensive, slur, uncountable Synonyms: whitey Meronyms: whitey Derived forms: white trashery, white-trashy Related terms: trailer trash Translations (white person or people of low social status (pejorative)): 白色垃圾 (báisè lājī, báisè lèsè) (Chinese Mandarin), valkoinen roskaväki (Finnish), valkoroska (Finnish), déchet blanc [masculine] (French), white trash [masculine] (French), White Trash [neuter] (German), weißer Abschaum [masculine] (German), weißes Gesindel mit viel Geld (note: with cash) [neuter] (German), ホワイトトラッシュ (howaitotorasshu) (Japanese), プアホワイト (puahowaito) (english: poor white) (Japanese), ақ қоқыс (aq qoqys) (Kazakh), бе́лое отро́дье (béloje otródʹje) [neuter] (Russian), бе́лое отре́бье (béloje otrébʹje) [neuter] (Russian), бе́лая шваль (bélaja švalʹ) [feminine] (Russian), бе́лый му́сор (bélyj músor) [masculine] (Russian), WT (Swedish), ฝรั่งขี้นก (fà-ràng-kîi-nók) (Thai)

Download JSON data for white trash meaning in English (6.7kB)

{
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "sv",
            "2": "WT",
            "bor": "1"
          },
          "expansion": "→ Swedish: WT",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "→ Swedish: WT"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "poor white trash"
      },
      "expansion": "poor white trash",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A shortening, first attested in 1850, of poor white trash, which black slaves in the Southern United States were said to call white individuals who worked in servile positions (for example, as butlers).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
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      "expansion": "white trash (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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          "kind": "other",
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      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "white trashery"
        },
        {
          "word": "white-trashy"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "This white trash can't pay for his own beer.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "These lowlife characters are white trash.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1919, H. P. Lovecraft, Beyond the Wall of Sleep",
          "text": "Among these odd folk, who correspond exactly to the decadent element of “white trash” in the South, law and morals are non-existent; and their general mental status is probably below that of any other section of the native American people.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1987 [1984], James Ellroy, Because the Night, New York: Avon, page 31",
          "text": "When Linda was two and living in a San Pedro dive with her white-trash parents, he was twelve and gaining clandestine access to wealthy homes in Bronxville and Scarsdale, New York, exorcising his nocturnal heart by delivering himself to the quiet muse of other people's dwellings, sometimes stealing, sometimes not. . . .",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, “Tonya Harding”, performed by Sufjan Stevens",
          "text": "Just some Portland white trash / You confronted your sorrow / Like there was no tomorrow / While the rest of the world only laughed",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A poorly educated white person or, collectively, white people of low social status and often regarded as lazy, irresponsible, incompetent, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-white_trash-en-noun-Mwkx9~l6",
      "links": [
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        [
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        [
          "poorly",
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        [
          "educated",
          "educated"
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        [
          "white person",
          "white man"
        ],
        [
          "social",
          "social"
        ],
        [
          "status",
          "status"
        ],
        [
          "lazy",
          "lazy"
        ],
        [
          "irresponsible",
          "irresponsible"
        ],
        [
          "incompetent",
          "incompetent"
        ]
      ],
      "meronyms": [
        {
          "word": "whitey"
        }
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic, derogatory, ethnic slur, offensive) A poorly educated white person or, collectively, white people of low social status and often regarded as lazy, irresponsible, incompetent, etc."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "trailer trash"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "whitey"
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      "tags": [
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        "derogatory",
        "ethnic",
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "báisè lājī, báisè lèsè",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "word": "白色垃圾"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "word": "valkoinen roskaväki"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "word": "valkoroska"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "déchet blanc"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "white trash"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "White Trash"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "weißer Abschaum"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "note": "with cash",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "weißes Gesindel mit viel Geld"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "howaitotorasshu",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "word": "ホワイトトラッシュ"
        },
        {
          "code": "ja",
          "english": "poor white",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "puahowaito",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "word": "プアホワイト"
        },
        {
          "code": "kk",
          "lang": "Kazakh",
          "roman": "aq qoqys",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "word": "ақ қоқыс"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "béloje otródʹje",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "бе́лое отро́дье"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "béloje otrébʹje",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "бе́лое отре́бье"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "bélaja švalʹ",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "бе́лая шваль"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "bélyj músor",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "бе́лый му́сор"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "word": "WT"
        },
        {
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "roman": "fà-ràng-kîi-nók",
          "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
          "word": "ฝรั่งขี้นก"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-white trash.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/56/En-au-white_trash.ogg/En-au-white_trash.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/En-au-white_trash.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "white trash"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "white trashery"
    },
    {
      "word": "white-trashy"
    }
  ],
  "descendants": [
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      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
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          "args": {
            "1": "sv",
            "2": "WT",
            "bor": "1"
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          "expansion": "→ Swedish: WT",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "→ Swedish: WT"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "poor white trash"
      },
      "expansion": "poor white trash",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "A shortening, first attested in 1850, of poor white trash, which black slaves in the Southern United States were said to call white individuals who worked in servile positions (for example, as butlers).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "white trash (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "meronyms": [
    {
      "word": "whitey"
    }
  ],
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "trailer trash"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English derogatory terms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English ethnic slurs",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English offensive terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
        "Kazakh terms with redundant script codes",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "This white trash can't pay for his own beer.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "These lowlife characters are white trash.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1919, H. P. Lovecraft, Beyond the Wall of Sleep",
          "text": "Among these odd folk, who correspond exactly to the decadent element of “white trash” in the South, law and morals are non-existent; and their general mental status is probably below that of any other section of the native American people.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1987 [1984], James Ellroy, Because the Night, New York: Avon, page 31",
          "text": "When Linda was two and living in a San Pedro dive with her white-trash parents, he was twelve and gaining clandestine access to wealthy homes in Bronxville and Scarsdale, New York, exorcising his nocturnal heart by delivering himself to the quiet muse of other people's dwellings, sometimes stealing, sometimes not. . . .",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, “Tonya Harding”, performed by Sufjan Stevens",
          "text": "Just some Portland white trash / You confronted your sorrow / Like there was no tomorrow / While the rest of the world only laughed",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A poorly educated white person or, collectively, white people of low social status and often regarded as lazy, irresponsible, incompetent, etc."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "derogatory",
          "derogatory"
        ],
        [
          "ethnic",
          "ethnic"
        ],
        [
          "slur",
          "slur"
        ],
        [
          "poorly",
          "poorly"
        ],
        [
          "educated",
          "educated"
        ],
        [
          "white person",
          "white man"
        ],
        [
          "social",
          "social"
        ],
        [
          "status",
          "status"
        ],
        [
          "lazy",
          "lazy"
        ],
        [
          "irresponsible",
          "irresponsible"
        ],
        [
          "incompetent",
          "incompetent"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic, derogatory, ethnic slur, offensive) A poorly educated white person or, collectively, white people of low social status and often regarded as lazy, irresponsible, incompetent, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "derogatory",
        "ethnic",
        "idiomatic",
        "offensive",
        "slur",
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-white trash.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/56/En-au-white_trash.ogg/En-au-white_trash.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/En-au-white_trash.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "whitey"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "báisè lājī, báisè lèsè",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "word": "白色垃圾"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "word": "valkoinen roskaväki"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "word": "valkoroska"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "déchet blanc"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "white trash"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "White Trash"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "weißer Abschaum"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "note": "with cash",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "weißes Gesindel mit viel Geld"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "howaitotorasshu",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "word": "ホワイトトラッシュ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ja",
      "english": "poor white",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "puahowaito",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "word": "プアホワイト"
    },
    {
      "code": "kk",
      "lang": "Kazakh",
      "roman": "aq qoqys",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "word": "ақ қоқыс"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "béloje otródʹje",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "бе́лое отро́дье"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "béloje otrébʹje",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "бе́лое отре́бье"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "bélaja švalʹ",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "бе́лая шваль"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "bélyj músor",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "бе́лый му́сор"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "word": "WT"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "roman": "fà-ràng-kîi-nók",
      "sense": "white person or people of low social status (pejorative)",
      "word": "ฝรั่งขี้นก"
    }
  ],
  "word": "white trash"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). 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.