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Glite Dictionary
Negress

Negress

3 9.9
An offensive old word for a Black woman no longer used
  • noun
  • Slur
: [término ofensivo y arcaico para mujer negra]
  • The artist captured the beauty of a Negress in her latest painting.

Examples

  • The word "negress" appeared under the sketch.

    Academic text (1990)

  • I am a really real negress.

    Bamboozled (2000)

  • You will sell the negress.

    12 Years a Slave (2013)

  • I am not going to be a good 'Negress' and turn a blind eye to what is going on around me.

    Blog text (4)

  • Name of the Negress, Julie Laverne, born Julie Dozier.

    Show Boat (1951)

  • In the novel, the protagonist falls in love with a Negress who carries a rich cultural heritage.

  • The scholar studied the historical significance of the term Negress in 19th-century literature.

Surface Forms

Negress singular
Negresses plural

Morphology

Negress = Negro (opaque) = negr + ess

The suffix '-ess' indicates a female form, but the word is outdated and offensive, making its use and understanding contextually opaque.

Etymology

Negress comes from negro, which means 'black', plus the female ending -ess, like in actress or waitress, so it originally meant 'a black woman'. Today it is an offensive and old-fashioned word, so we should not use it.