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lily-white. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
lily-white, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
lily-white in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English liliwhite, lilye-white, lilye-whyt, equivalent to lily + white.
Pronunciation
Adjective
lily-white (comparative more lily-white, superlative most lily-white)
- A shade of the color white.
- Pure, unblemished, immaculate.
Not a pimple nor freckle marred her lily-white skin
(Can we date this quote?), “Green Grow the Rushes, O”:Four for the Gospel makers, / Three, three, the rivals, / Two, two, the lily-white boys, Clothed all in green, O
- Innocent, having a reputation beyond reproach.
- (slang, sometimes derogatory) Of the Caucasian race; white.
2023 March 7, Steve Rose, quoting China Miéville, “The romcom effect: will a new movie gentrify Peckham as Richard Curtis gentrified Notting Hill?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:The film was shot on location in Notting Hill, but observers noticed how its streets were suspiciously free of black people, and instead “wholly populated with mindless, twittering, wittering, lily-white rich”, as writer China Miéville put it.
Translations
a shade of the color white
pure, unblemished, immaculate