lily-white

English

Etymology

From Middle English liliwhite, lilye-white, lilye-whyt, equivalent to lily + white.

Pronunciation

  • (file)

Adjective

lily-white (comparative more lily-white, superlative most lily-white)

  1. A shade of the color white.
  2. 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
  3. Innocent, having a reputation beyond reproach.
  4. (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

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