Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier

13 4.6
A Bahamian actor and director who is the first Black man to win an Academy Award for acting
  • proper noun
  • /ˈsɪdni ˈpwɑːtiˌeɪ/
: Sidney Poitier
  • Sidney Poitier became the first Black man to win an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1964.

Examples

  • Many people credit Sidney Poitier with opening doors for Black actors in Hollywood.

  • Sidney Poitier won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1964.

  • Sidney Poitier won an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1964.

  • I watched a documentary about the life and career of Sidney Poitier.

  • I recently watched a classic film starring Sidney Poitier.

  • In his films, Sidney Poitier challenged racial stereotypes and paved the way for future generations.

  • The legacy of Sidney Poitier continues to inspire actors and filmmakers around the world.

Synonyms

Poitier
vsSidney Poitier
15 8.1

A Black American actor and director who broke racial barriers in Hollywood

adds award milestone dual nationality and lifespan details

Surface Forms

Sidney Poitier main

Morphology

Sidney + Poitier

This is a proper name referring to a specific individual; the biographical meaning (a Bahamian-American actor and pioneering Oscar winner) is not compositionally derived from the parts 'Sidney' and 'Poitier'. Proper nouns are referential and arbitrary across languages, so knowing the constituent name forms does not allow a B1 learner to infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Sidney Poitier was a Bahamian-American actor who became the first Black man to 'win the Academy Award for Best Actor' in 1964 after years of hard work and many respected roles. His success and calm, strong performances helped 'open doors' for other Black actors, so his name is remembered as a symbol of breaking racial barriers in Hollywood.