whiteface
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English
Etymology
Pronunciation
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
whiteface (countable and uncountable, plural whitefaces)
- (uncountable) Makeup that makes the face appear white.
- Whiteface is sometimes worn by clowns and mimes, or in the Gothic subculture.
- (countable) Any bird of the genus Aphelocephala.
- A Hereford cow.
- (countable) Any dragonfly of the genus Leucorrhinia.
- (countable, slang) A person of European descent. (See usage notes.)
- 2007 December 10, Janet Maslin, “Cop's Wife Spiraling Out of Control in Chicago”, in New York Times:
- Craig has gotten himself entree into a dangerous Chinatown card game, where he is playing the role of the malleable whiteface, the unlucky Irishman known as Mickey in order to infiltrate the drug-dealing operations of Asian gang members.
- (countable) A traditional clown who ranks above the auguste.
Usage notes
The "white person" sense is rarely used directly; instead, it is found chiefly in reported or fictional speech, where it is ascribed to non-white characters, often as a way of establishing them as primitives.
Synonyms
- (European): paleface
Related terms
Translations
makeup
bird of genus Aphelocephala
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Hereford cattle
dragonfly of genus Leucorrhinia
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person of European origin
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