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golliwog

golliwog

2 9.9
A doll with exaggerated features of Black people that many find offensive
  • noun
  • /ˈɡɑːlɪˌwɔɡ/
  • Slur
: muñeco golliwog (ofensivo)
  • That's how my girlfriend will look as soon as I get this golliwog finished.

Examples

How Offensive

golliwog
  • Slur
2 9.9
caricature
46 5.5
toy
233 1.0

Surface Forms

golliwog singular
golliwogs plural

Etymology

Golliwog comes from the name of a black-faced rag doll made famous in a late 1800s children's story, and that doll had very exaggerated, racist features so the word came to mean that kind of toy. That's why golliwog now describes a doll or image with insulting racial features and is seen as 'offensive'.