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Glite Dictionary
coloreds

coloreds

1 9.9
An offensive word for non-white people, especially Black people, that people now find unacceptable
  • noun
  • /ˈkʌlərdz/
  • Slur
translation icon : [término ofensivo para una persona negra]
  • That's okay, you will when you get older and get passed over in favor of Coloreds.

Examples

  • In the past, the term coloreds appeared on signs that enforced racial segregation.

  • Many communities have moved away from using the term coloreds due to its offensive nature.

  • The great difference between the tricameral parliament (1983) and other "representative" bodies for Indians and Coloreds is that the tricameral parliament has real power.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The Labour Party first opposed the new constitutional proposals (which called for the creation of three separate parliaments, with a ratio of Whites 4, Coloreds 2, and Indians 1), demanding full Black participation.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Despite the preservation of qualified voting rights for the Cape Coloreds, the years between 1902 and the founding of Union in 1910 have been described as a bleak period of intensifying racial discrimination for black and colored South Africans.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Historically, schools were divided by race, and coloreds were often denied equal education.

Synonyms

people of color
vscoloreds
  • US
37 3.6

People who are not white, for example Black, Asian, or Indigenous

is an offensive outdated label now considered highly inappropriate

Antonyms

white
∞ 1.0

People with light skin

Surface Forms

coloreds plural

Morphology

coloreds = colored (opaque) = color + ed + s

The form is a regular plural of a historically derived racial label, but the offensive meaning is a fixed social term and is not predictable from color + -ed + -s.

Etymology

Coloreds comes from the common word color, which means 'color' or 'skin tone'. It was used in the past to group people by their skin, especially Black people, but today it is considered very offensive and should not be used.