List of ethnic slurs
The following is a list of ethnic slurs that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity, or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or otherwise insulting manner.
Some of the terms listed below are used by many people all over the world as part of their ordinary speech or thinking without any intention of causing offence. The connotation of a term and prevalence of its use as a pejorative or neutral descriptor varies over time and by geography.
For the purposes of this list, an ethnic slur is a term designed to insult others on the basis of race, ethnicity, or nationality. Each term is listed followed by its country or region of usage, a definition, and a reference to that term.
Ethnic slurs may also be produced as a racial epithet by combining a general-purpose insult with the name of ethnicity, such as "dirty Jew", "Russian pig", etc. Other common insulting modifiers include "dog", "filthy", etc. Such terms are not included in this list.
A
;Abbie, Abe, Abie: a Jewish man. From the proper name Abraham. Originated before the 1950s.;ABC: American-born Chinese, Han or other Chinese born and raised in the United States. The term implies an otherness or lack of connection to their Chinese identity and Chinese language; however, it has been reappropriated by many Chinese Americans and used to convey positive connotations.
;ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi, Indian Americans or other South Asian Americans, who were born in the United States. Used chiefly by South Asian immigrants to imply confusion about cultural identity.
;Abid/Abeed : an Arabic term for slave, often used as a racial slur against black Africans and is associated with the Arab slave trade.
;Abo/Abbo: Australian Aboriginal person. Originally, this was simply an informal term for Aborigine, and was in fact used by Aboriginal people themselves until it started to be considered offensive in the 1950s. In more remote areas, Aboriginal people still often refer to themselves as Blackfellas. Although Abo is still considered quite offensive by many, the pejorative boong is now more commonly used when the intent is deliberately to offend, as that word's status as an insult is unequivocal.
;Afro engineering, African engineering or nigger rigging: Shoddy, second-rate or unconventional, makeshift workmanship.
;Ah Chah: for South Asians.
;Ali Baba: an Iraqi suspected of criminal activity.
;Alligator bait / Gator bait: a black person, especially a black child. More commonly used in states where alligators are found, particularly Florida. First used in the early 20th century, although some hypothesize the term originated in the late 19th century. The term derives from the fact that, during the slave trade, Black children and babies were supposedly used as bait by White people in the US in order to catch alligators.
; Alpine Serb: a person of Slovenian origin.
;Ang mo: Hokkien for "red hair" referring to Dutch people from 17th century and expanded to white people by 19th century, has become a neutral term.
;Ann: a white woman to a black person—or a black woman who acts "like a white woman". While Miss Ann, also just plain Ann, is a derisive reference to white women, it is also applied to any black woman who is deemed to be acting as though she is white.
;Annamite: Annamite or mites, a Vietnamese person.
;Ape: A black person, referring to outdated theories ascribing cultural differences between ethnic groups as being linked to their evolutionary distance from chimpanzees, with which humans share common ancestry.
;Apple: an Native American who is "red on the outside, white on the inside". Used primarily by other Native Americans to indicate someone who has lost touch with their cultural identity. First used in the 1970s.
; Arabush / Aravush : Arabs, derived from Hebrew "Aravi" which is itself inoffensive.
;Armo: an Armenian/Armenian American. Especially used in Southern California.
;Aseng: insult to non-Indonesian citizen, from " asing" that rhymed with "Aseng". This word is often pointed to Chinese due to Indonesia's relation with PRC.
;Ashke-Nazi : Pronounced like "AshkeNatzi". Highly offensive term for Ashkenazi Jews, used mostly by Mizrachi Jews.
;Aunt Jemima / Aunt Jane / Aunt Mary / Aunt Sally: a black woman who "kisses up" to whites, a "sellout", female counterpart of Uncle Tom.
;Ayrab/A-rab: an Arab. Popularised in Ray Stevens' 1962 song "Ahab the Arab".
B
;Bamboula: a Black person.;Balija: an ethnic Bosniak or a member of the Bosnian diaspora.
;Banana : "Yellow on the outside, white on the inside". Used primarily by East or Southeast Asians for other East- or Southeast Asians or Asian American who are perceived as assimilated into mainstream American culture.
;Beaner / Beaney: people of Mexican descent or, more specifically, mestizos of Central American descent. The term originates from the use of frijoles pintos and other beans in Mexican food.
;Bluegum: an African American perceived as being lazy and unwilling to work.
;, referring to the supposed stupidity of the inhabitants of the neighboring Boeotia region of Greece.
;Boerehater / Boer-hater / Boer hater : a person who hates, prejudices or criticises the Boers, or Afrikaners – historically applied to British people prejudiced against the Boers.
;Bog Irish / Bogtrotter / Bog-trotter: a person of common or low-class Irish ancestry.
;: a lower-class immigrant of Central, Eastern, or Southeastern European descent. Originally referred to those of Bohemian descent. It was commonly used toward Central European immigrants during the early 20th century. Probably from Bohemian + a distortion of Hungarian. See also hunky.
;Bong: a Bengali.
;Boong / bong / bung: Australian aboriginal. Boong, pronounced with ʊ, is related to the Australian English slang word bung, meaning "dead", "infected", or "dysfunctional". From bung, to go bung "Originally to die, then to break down, go bankrupt, cease to function ". Highly offensive. The Australian National Dictionary gives its origin in the Wemba word for "man" or "human being".
;Boonga / boong / bunga / boonie: a Pacific Islander .
;Bootlip: an African American.
;Bougnoule: An Arab.
;Bounty bar: A racially black person who is considered to be behaving like a white person.
;Bozgor:a Romanian insult towards Hungarians, especially ones born in Romania, possibly derived from the Moldavian Csángó dialect pronunciation of bocskor meaning Opanak, a type of rustic footwear.
;Brownie: a brown-skinned person 1940s–1950s.
;Buddhahead: an Asian. Also used by mainland Japanese Americans to refer to Hawaiian Japanese Americans since World War II.
;Buckra, Bakra: a white person from Sub-Saharan African languages, used in the U.S. and the West Indies.
;Bule: a white person from an archaic Indonesian word for albino.
;Burrhead / Burr-head / Burr head: a black person.
C
;Cabbage Eater: a German or a Russian.;Camel Jockey: people of Middle Eastern descent.
;Carcamano: an Italian person. Used during the early 20th century, during the Second wave of Italian immigration to Brazil.
;Chankoro: チャンコロ, a Japanese reference to a Chinese person.
;Charlie: a. white people as a reified collective oppressor group, similar to The Man or The System.
;Chee-chee, Chi-chi: an Anglo-Indian or Eurasian mixed race person, probably from Hindi chi-chi fie!, literally, dirt.
;Cheesehead: A Dutch or Wisconsinite.
;Cheese-eating surrender monkey: a Frenchman, from the defeat of the French against the Germans in 1940, and the huge variety of cheeses originating from France. Gained popularity after the term was used on an episode of The Simpsons.
;Chefur :word used by Slovenes for people of ex-SFRY descent, mostly Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
;Chernozhopy:, or chornaya zhopa, an indigenous person from the Caucasus, e.g. from Chechnya or Azerbaijan. It means "black-arse" in Russian.
;Chilote: Argentine degrading term for Chileans.
;Ching Chong: mocking the language of or a person of perceived Chinese descent. An offensive term that has raised considerable controversy, for example when used by comedian Rosie O'Donnell.
;Chinaman: found offensive, although it is a calque of the :wikt:Chinaman|Chinese 中國人. It was used in the gold rush and railway-construction eras in western North America, when discrimination against Chinese was common.
;Chink: people of Chinese descent.
;Chinky: Northeast Indians, used by Mainland Indians.
;Chonky: refers to a person of Asian heritage with "white attributes", in either personality or appearance.
;Christ-killer: a Jew, an allusion to Jewish deicide.
;Choc-ice: A person who is figuratively 'black on the outside, white on the inside'.
;Cholo: Used in Latin America and the Southwestern United States to refer to people of perceived Mestizo descent, especially teenagers and young people in the lowrider subculture. It may be derogatory depending on circumstances.
;Chug: refers to an individual of aboriginal descent. See Chugach for the native people.
;Chukhna : Finnic person
;Churka: slur for Central Asians and indigenous people of Caucasus.
;Ciapaty or ciapak: a racial slur for darkskinned people of Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian descent, sometimes also used for people from Caucasus. From chapati.
;Cina/Cokin: a Chinese person or descendant. Use in media has been banned since 2014 under Keppres no. 12/2014, replaced by Tiongkok or Tionghoa. The President Decision even bans use of "China" in media and formal use.
;Coconut: Named after the coconut, the nut from the coconut palm; in the American sense, it derives from the fact that a coconut is brown on the outside and white on the inside.
;Coolie: unskilled Asian laborer, usually Chinese. Possibly from Mandarin "苦力" ku li or Hindi kuli, "day laborer." Also racial epithet for Indo-Caribbean people, especially in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and South African Indians.
;Coon: a black person. Possibly from Portuguese barracão or Spanish barracón, a large building constructed to hold merchandise, where slaves were kept for sale, anglicised to barracoon. Popularized by the song "Zip Coon", played at Minstrel shows in the 1830s.
;Coonass, or Coon-ass: a person of Cajun ethnicity. Not to be confused with the French .
;Cracker: a poor Appalachian or poor Southerner, a white person, first used in the 19th century. It is sometimes used specifically to refer to a native of Florida or Georgia. Also used in a more general sense in North America to refer to white people disparagingly.
;Crow: a black person.
;Crucco: slur for German. The name was firstly given during the First World War to the troops of the Austro-Hungarian Army of Croatian and Slovenian ethnicity. Later the term was used to indicate the Germans.
;Curry-muncher: a person of Indian origin.
;Cushi, also spelled Kushi : Term originating from the Hebrew Bible, generally used to refer to a dark-skinned person usually of African descent. Originally merely descriptive, in present-day Israel it increasingly assumed a pejorative connotation and is regarded as insulting by Ethiopian Israelis and by African migrant workers and asylum seekers in Israel.
D
;, Dego: a. refers to Spaniards, Italians, or Portuguese, possibly derived from the Spanish name "Diego",;Dal Khor: An Urdu term used for Indians and Pakistanis. The term literally translates to "dal eater", connoting the supposedly higher emphasis on pulses and vegetables in the diet of countryside Punjabis.
;Darky / darkey / darkie: noun. a black person. According to lexicographer Richard A. Spears, the word "darkie" used to be considered mild and polite, before it took on a derogatory and provocative meaning.
;Dhoti: an Indian or Madhehsi, as reference to their indigenous clothing Dhoti worn by people of Indian subcontinent.
;Dink: a Southeast Asian, particularly a Vietnamese person. Also used as a disparaging term for a North Vietnamese soldier or guerrilla in the Vietnam War. Origin: 1965–70, Americanism
;Dogan, dogun: Irish Catholic .
;Dothead, Dot: South Asians in reference to the bindi.
;Dune coon: an Arab equivalent of sand nigger.
E
;Eight ball: a black person ; slang, usually used disparagingly;Eyetie: an Italian person; slang, usually used disparagingly. Originated through the mispronunciation of "Italian" as "Eye-talian".
F
;Farang: any white person.;Fenian: an Irish Catholic. Derived from the Fenian Brotherhood.
;Feuj: a Jew.
;Fjellabe:, Norwegian.
;Flip: ethnic slur applied to Filipinos.
;Fritz: a German .
;Frog, Froggy, Frogeater: a French person, person of French descent, or a French Canadian. Before the 19th century, referred to the Dutch. When France became Britain's main enemy, replacing the Dutch, the epithet was transferred to them, because of the French penchant for eating frogs' legs.
;Fuzzy-Wuzzy: colonialist term used to refer to the Hadendoa warriors in the 19th century. Not applicable in Australia, see Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels.
G
;Gabacho: an offensive term to refer to French people.; Gaijin : a term for any non-Japanese person; a foreigner.
; Gammon : a white person, especially older white men.
; Gans : a German or more uncommonly a Latvian person. The term originated among the Soviet troops in World War II, coming from Russified form of the German first name Hans. At the end and after the World War II the term was also applied by Russians to Latvians as a way of equating them to Germans since from 1943 to 1945, during the Nazi occupation of Latvia, nearly 100,000 Latvians were mobilised in the Latvian Legion and fought the Soviets alongside Germans.
; Gin: an Aboriginal woman.
; Gin jockey: a white person having casual sex with an Aboriginal woman. Pejorative.
; Godon: An antiquated pejorative expression for English people. Possibly a corruption of "God-damn".
; Golliwog: A predominantly UK expression which originally was a children's literature character and type of black doll but which eventually became to be used as a jibe against people with dark skin, most commonly Afro-Caribbeans.
; Gook, Gook-eye, Gooky: Far Easterners, used especially for enemy soldiers. Its use has been traced to U.S. Marines serving in the Philippines in the early 20th century. The earliest recorded example is dated 1920. It gained widespread notice as a result of the Korean and Vietnam wars.
; Goy, Goyim, Goyum: A Hebrew biblical term for "Nation" or "People". By Roman times it had also acquired the meaning of "non-Jew". In English, use may be controversial, it can be assigned pejoratively to non-Jews.
; Grago or Gragok : A term for Eurasians, and specifically for the Kristang people of Malaysia, many of whom were traditionally engaged in shrimp fishing. It often has pejorative connotations, especially when used by outsiders, though in recent generations members of the community have to some degree tried to reclaim the term.
; Greaseball, Greaser: A person of Italian descent. It can also refer to any person of Mediterranean/Southern European descent or Hispanic descent. "Greaser" has taken on a less derogatory connotation since the 1950s.
; Gringo: A person from an English-speaking country. Used in Spanish-speaking regions – chiefly Latin America, but sometimes used by Latino Americans. In Mexico only means an American. Likely from the Spanish word "griego", meaning Greek. In the Portuguese language, it is a colloquial neutral term for any foreigner, regardless of race, ethnicity or origin, or for a person whose native language is not Portuguese.
; Groid: A black person. Derived from "negroid".
; Gub, Gubba: Aboriginal term for white people
; Guiri: Foreigner, mildly offensive, usually referring to tourists from the British Islands, central and northern Europe or North America.
; Guizi : Foreigners. Basically the same meaning as the term gweilo used in Hong Kong. More often used when referring foreigners as military enemies, such as riben guizi, meiguo guizi.
; Guido: An Italian American male. Derives from the Italian given name, Guido. Used mostly in the Northeastern United States as a stereotype for working-class urban Italian Americans. A female equivalent may be guidette.
; Guinea, Ginzo: A person of Italian birth or descent. Most likely derived from "Guinea Negro", implying that Italians are dark or swarthy-skinned like the natives of Guinea. The diminutive "Ginzo" probably dates back to World War II and is derived from Australian slang picked up by U.S. servicemen in the Pacific Theater.
; Gusano: a person who left fleeing the Cuban Revolution. Coined by Fidel Castro, presenting them as unsavory dregs of capitalist society that had exploited the nation.
; Gweilo, gwailo, or kwai lo : A White man. Loosely translated as "foreign devil"; more literally, might be "ghost dude/bloke/guy/etc". Gwei means "ghost". The color white is associated with ghosts in China. A lo is a regular guy. Once a mark of xenophobia, the word is now in general, informal use.
; Gyopo, Kyopo :, literally "sojourner". A Korean who was born or raised overseas, particularly the United States
; Gypsy, Gyppo, gippo, gypo, gyppie, gyppy, gipp: a. A Romani person. Derived from "Egyptian", Egypt being mistakenly considered these people's origin.
H
;Hairyback: a term for Afrikaners;Hajji, Hadji, Haji: Used to refer to Iraqis, Arabs, Afghans, or Middle Eastern and South Asian people in general. Derived from the honorific Al-Hajji, the title given to a Muslim who has completed the Hajj.
;Half-breed: Anyone who is mixed race, such as of Native American and white European parentage. Métis is a French term, also used in Canadian English, for a half-breed, and mestizo is the equivalent in Spanish, although these are not offensive per se.
;Haole: a non-native, used by Hawaiians mainly to refer to whites. Can be used neutrally, dependent on context.
;Heeb, Hebe: a Jew, derived from the word "Hebrew".
;Hick: an uneducated or unsophisticated person from the countryside
;Hike: term for an Italian immigrant, sometimes used with or to distinguish from "Hunk".
;Hillbilly: term for Americans of Appalachian or Ozark heritage.
;Honky also spelled "honkey" or "honkie"
;Hori
;Hun: a. Germans, especially German soldiers; popular during World War I. Derived from a speech given by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany to the German contingent sent to China during the Boxer Rebellion in which he exhorted them to "be like Huns" to their Chinese enemy.
;Hunky, Hunk: A central Central European laborer. It originated in the coal regions of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where Poles and other immigrants from Central Europe came to perform hard manual labor in the mines.
;Hymie: a Jew, derived from the personal name Hyman. Jesse Jackson provoked controversy by referring to New York City as "Hymietown" in 1984. Has also been spelled "Heimie", as a reflection of popular Jewish last names ending in -heim.
I
;Ikey / ike / iky: a Jew;Ikey-mo / ikeymo: a Jew
;Indian:a Native American. Christopher Columbus mistakenly called Native Americans this name because he thought he arrived in the East Indies.
;Indon: an Indonesian. Used mostly in Malaysia and Singapore.
;Indognesial / Indonesial: an Indonesian, which similar to "Indon" term mixed with "Dog" and "Sial". Used mostly in Malaysia.
;Inyenzi: A person of the Tutsi ethnic group in Africa. Literally means "Cockroach" and reportedly derives from how Tutsi rebels would attack at night and retreat, being hard to kill, like a cockroach. Most notably came to worldwide prominence around the time of the Rwanda genocide, as it was used by the RTLM in order to incite genocide.
;Injun: a Native American, corrupted "Indian".
J
;Jakun: an unsophisticated person, from the Malay name of an indigenous ethnic group.; Jap
;Japie, yarpie
;Jerry
;Jewboy
;Jigaboo, jiggabo, jigarooni, jijjiboo, zigabo, jig, jigg, jigga, jigger
;Jidan: ethnic slur for a Jewish person.
;Jim Crow: a black person.
;Jock, jocky, jockie
;Jungle bunny: a black person.
K
;Kaew: refers to Vietnamese people.;Kaffir, kaffer, kaffir, kafir, kaffre, kuffar
;Kaffir boetie: "Kaffir brother", a black sympathiser during apartheid
;Kalar: Muslim citizens who are "black-skinned" or "undesirable aliens".
;Kalia, Kalu, Kallu: literally means blackie generally used for black skinned people in India, can also have racist overtone when referring to Africans
;Kanaka: a Pacific Islander
;Kanake:, particularly used of Turks, and to some extent re-appropriated
;Kano: Filipino slang for Americans. Shortened from the Tagalog word "Amerikano".
;Katsap or kacap or kacapas:кацап, kacapas, disparaging terms for Russians used in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and Lithuania.
;Kaouiche or Kawish: A pejorative term used to refer to Native Americans.
;Kebab:A Muslim, usually of Arab or Turkic descent.
;Keling:a term to refer to Malaysians, Singaporeans and Indonesians with origins in India and elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent. In Indonesian, the term can be applied to any person with dark complexion, not only Southern Indian descents, but also to native Indonesians with darker complexion and Africans. The term is derived the ancient Indian kingdom of Kalinga, where many immigrants to countries further east originated.
;Kharkhuwa:a person necessarily having Assamese ethnicity and a descendant of people of medieval Assam, now a territory of India.
;Khokhol : a Ukrainian, derived from a term for a traditional Cossack-style haircut.
;Kike or kyke: Ashkenazi Jews. Possibly from kikel, Yiddish for "circle". Immigrant Jews who couldn't read English often signed legal documents with an "O".
;:a Korean person.
;Knacker:, an Irish Traveler.
;Kolorad:Ukrainian term for Russians, in reference to Russian St. George ribbon whose coloration resembles the stripes of the Colorado beetle.
;Kraut: a German, most specifically during World War II.
L
;Labas: A Lithuanian person, from Lithuanian greetings, labas rytas/laba diena/labas vakaras;Laowai : a foreigner, literally "old foreign"
;Lebo, Leb: A Lebanese person, usually a Lebanese Australian.
;Limey: A Briton. Comes from the historical British naval practice of giving sailors limes to stave off scurvy.
;Locust : a mainland Chinese person.
;Londo: a white person, commonly used by Javanese people. Derived from "Belanda".
;Lubra: an Australian Aboriginal woman.
;Lugan: a Lithuanian.
M
;Mabuno/Mahbuno:: a local European held in contempt, or more commonly a white African of European ancestry.;Madrasi:: someone from southern India.
;Mayonnaise Monkey: a person with a "mayonnaise" complexion; A white person.
;Macaca: originally used by francophone colonists in North Africa, also used in Europe against Immigrants from Africa.
;Majus : Arab slur against Persians, meaning Zoroastrian, Magi, fire worshipper.
;Malakh-khor : "locust eater", a Persian slur against Arabs, referring to the eating of locusts in Arab cuisine.
;Malaun: Hindus.
;Malon: a Malaysian citizen, as the reply to Indon word. Malon is a short for "Malaysia Bloon".
;Malingsia / Malingsial / Malingsialan: means "Malaysian thief / damned thief", is a slang for Malaysians. Originally combined from 2 words "maling" and "Malaysia". It was used by the Indonesian people because of the continuous claims of Indonesian cultures, Indonesians treated Malaysians as a group of thief, for stealing local Indonesian cultures that don't have any connection with Malaysia and food.
;Mangal / Mango / Mangasar : a Romani person.
;Marokaki : Moroccan Jew. Derived from "Maroko" + "Kaki".
;Mau-Mau: Aggressive black person. Originally referred to Kenyans of the Kikuyu tribe involved in a ferocious insurgency against British colonialists in the 1950s.
;Mayate: a Black person. Literally the Spanish colloquial name of the Figeater beetle.
;: A person of Irish descent.
;Mof : Germans
;Momo/Momos: Northeast Indians implying they are Chinese foreigners.
;Moon Cricket/Mooncricket: Black person.
;Moskal: a historically a neutral designation for a person from Muscovy, and currently an ethnic slur referring to Russians used in Ukraine and Belarus.
;Mountain Turk
;Mulignan/Mulignon/Moolinyan
;: A black person, usually a man.
;Mzungu: white-skinned person in Central Africa. Derived from "wanderer" or "someone who roams around" in Swahili to describe European explorers in the 1800s who were thought to be lost because they passed the same spot in their exploration or reconnoitering of Africa.
N
;Nawar: Arab term for Romani people and other groups sharing an itinerant lifestyle.;Nere : A term used by Bengali Hindus to refer to Muslims in Bengal.
;Niakoué: someone from East or South East Asia. A corrupted Vietnamese word with similar to "yokel", "country bumpkin", etc.
;Niglet: a young black person.
;Nig-nog or Nignog: a black person. Originally used to refer to a novice; a foolish or naive person.
;Nigger / Niger / nig / nigor / nigra / nigre / nigar / niggur / nigga / niggah / niggar / nigguh / niggress / nigette: Black. From the Spanish and Portuguese word negro, derived from the Latin niger.
;Nigger toe: a slur that is actually referring to a Brazil nut
;Nip: someone of Japanese descent
;Nitchie / neche / neechee / neejee / nichi / nichiwa / nidge / nitchee / nitchy: a Native American.
;Non-pri, from Non-Pribumi: The term pribumi was coined after Indonesian independence to replace the derogatory Dutch term Inlander. "Non-pribumi", often simply "non-pri", was then used to refer to Indonesians of foreign descent, especially Chinese Indonesians and was generally considered to suggest that they were not full citizens. Use of both "pribumi" and "non-pribumi" by government departments was banned by President B.J. Habibie in 1998 according to Inpres 26/1998, along with instruction to stop discrimination by race in government.
;Northern Monkey: used in the south of England, relating to the supposed stupidity and lack of sophistication of those in the north of the country. In some cases this has been adopted in the north of England, with a pub in Leeds even taking the name 'The Northern Monkey'.
;Nusayri: a member of the Alawite sect of Shi'a Islam. Once a common and neutral term derived from the name of Ibn Nusayr, the sect's founder, it fell out of favour within the community in the early decades of the 20th century due the perception that it implied a heretical separateness from mainstream Islam. Resurgent in the context of the ongoing Syrian Civil War, the term is now often employed by Sunni fundamentalist enemies of the government of Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, to suggest that the faith is a human invention lacking divine legitimacy.
O
;Ofay: a white person. Originates from the late 19th century.;Oláh: a term used pejoratively by Hungarians to refer to Romanians
;Oreo: a black person who is perceived as acting white, and therefore black on the outside and white on the inside like an Oreo cookie. Used as early as the 1960s.
;Oven Dodger: A Jew, implying that one or one's ancestors avoided dying in the Holocaust and so avoid the crematorium ovens.
;Overner: a term used by residents of the Isle of Wight, sometimes pejoratively, to refer to people from the mainland United Kingdom.
P
;Paddy: an Irishman, derived from Pádraig/Patrick. Often derogatory; however, Lord Edward FitzGerald, a major leader of the United Irishmen of 1798, was proclaimed by his Sister proudly "a Paddy and no more" and stated that "he desired no other title than this".;Paki, Pakkis, Pak: Pakistanis, also directed towards other South Asians, shortened from "Pakistani".
;Palagi: a Samoan term for a white person, found throughout the Pacific islands. Not usually derogatory unless used in reference to a local to imply they have assimilated into Western culture.
;Paleface: white people.
;Pancake Face, Pancake: an Asian person
;Pastel de flango: an East Asian person. Used mostly to refer to people of Chinese and Japanese origin. Pastel is Portuguese for any pastry and so is used for wonton in Brazil. Flango is eye dialect of frango ridiculing Asian pronunciation.
;Peckerwood: Used by southern African Americans and upper-class whites to refer to poor rural whites.
;Pepper or Pepsi: a French Canadian or Québécois.
;Petrol sniffer: An aboriginal person.
;Pickaninny: An African American child.
;Piefke: a. a Prussian.
;Pikey / piky / piker: derived from "turnpike". a. Irish Traveller.
;Plastic Paddy: someone who knows little of Irish culture, but asserts their 'Irish' identity. Can refer to foreign nationals who claim Irishness based solely on having Irish relatives. Often used in the same sense as poseur and wannabe.
;Pocho / pocha: adjective: term for a person of Mexican heritage who is partially or fully assimilated into U.S. culture ; undersized.
;Polack, Polak, Polock: a Pole or a person of Polish or Slavic origin, from the Polish endonym, Polak. Note: the proper Swedish demonym for Polish people is polack and the Norwegian equivalent is polakk.
;Polaco: a Catalan person.
; Polentone: an inhabitant of Northern Italy referring to them as a "polenta eater".
;Pom, Pohm, Pommy, Pommie, Pommie Grant: a British immigrant.
;Porch monkey: a black person referring to perceived common behavior of groups hanging out on front porches or steps of urban apartment complexes in U.S. cities.
;Portagee: A person from Portugal or a person of Portuguese descent.
;Potet: Norwegians
;Prairie nigger: Native American
;Prod: a Northern Irish Protestant.
;Pshek: A male Pole.
Q
;Quashie: a black person, often gullible or unsophisticated. From the West African name Kwazi, often given to a child born on a SundayR
;Raghead: Arabs, Indian Sikhs and some other peoples, for wearing traditional headdress such as turbans or keffiyehs. Sometimes used generically for all Islamic nations. Also called "Osama" as a slur. See towel head.;Rastus: is a stereotypical term traditionally associated with African Americans in the United States.
;Razakars: akin to the western term Judas.
;Redlegs: the islands' laborer-class whites.
;Redneck: Southern laborer-class whites. Not to be confused with rooinek, listed below.
;Redskin: Native Americans, often used in the names of sports teams. See Native American name controversy.
; Rosuke, Roske: Russians
;Rooinek: South African slang for a person of British descent.
;Roto: a term used in Peru and Bolivia to refer disdainfully to Chileans. The term roto was first applied to Spanish conquerors in Chile, who were badly dressed and preferred military strength over intellect.
;Roundeye: a white or non-Asian person.
;: Russians, from Russian Русский Russkiy, meaning "Russian".
;Rusnya: a Russian-language collective term for Russians
S
;Sambo: an African American or black person;Sand nigger: Arabs Equivalent of dune coon.
;Sassenach: an English person
;Sawney
;Scandihoovian: somewhat pejorative term for people of Scandinavian descent living in the U.S., now often embraced by Scandinavian descendants.
;Seppo, Septic: An American.
;Schvartse, Schwartze: Literally "black", a Yiddish or German term for someone of African descent.
;Sheboon: Derogatory word for a black woman.
;Sheeny: a 19th-century term for an "untrustworthy Jew".
;Sheep shagger: a New Zealander.
a Welsh person.
;Shelta: the Travelling Folk. Derived from siúilta, which means "The Walkers" in Irish.
;Shine: a black person.
;Shkije: a term used by Gheg Albanians to refer to Serbs, Macedonians, and Montenegrins.
;Shkutzim : non-Jewish men, especially those perceived to be anti-Semitic. Cf. Shegetz, Shiksa.
;Shkutor: an ethnic west-Herzegovinan Croat.
;Shylock: A Jew, or more specifically, a greedy or usurious Jew. From the antagonistic character of Shylock, a Jewish money-lender, in William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice.
;Sideways vagina/pussy/cooter: Asian women, particularly Chinese women.
;Skinny: A term for Somali militia fighters
;Skopianoi: ethnic Macedonians.
;Skip, Skippy: An Australian, especially one of British descent, from the children's television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo
;Slant, slant–eye: a person of East Asian descent in reference to the appearance of the eyes.
;Slope, slopehead, slopy, slopey, sloper: a person of Asian descent. Also slant, slant–eye.
;Snowflake: a white person
;Snow Nigger: Northern European.
;Smoked Irish / smoked Irishman: a 19th-century term for blacks.
;Soosmar-khor: "lizard eater" a Persian slur against Arabs, referring to the eating of lizards in Arab cuisine.
;Sooty: a black person
;Southern Faerie, Southern Fairy:, a pejorative term used in the North of England to refer to someone from the South, alluding to their supposed mollycoddled ways.
;Soutpiel: an Afrikaans term abbreviated as "Soutie" and translates as "Salt-penis", and used for White English speaking people. It derives from the Boer Wars where it was said that British soldiers had one foot in the UK, one foot in South Africa and their penis dangled in the Atlantic Ocean.
;Spade: a black person, recorded since 1928, from the playing cards suit.
;Spearchucker: A term used for an African American, or other person of African descent.
;Spic, spick, spik, spig, or spigotty: a. a person of Hispanic descent. First recorded use in 1915. Common belief is that it is an abbreviation of "Hispanic".
;Spook: a black person, attested from the 1940s.
;Squarehead: a Nordic person, such as a Scandinavian or a German. Refers to either the stereotyped shape of their heads, or to the shape of the Stahlhelm M1916 steel helmet, or to its owner's stubbornness.
;Squaw: a Native American woman. Derived from lower East Coast Algonquian, which originally meant "young woman"
;Swamp Guinea: a person of Italian descent.
T
;Tacohead: a Mexican person. This phrase is uttered by Willem Dafoe's character in the film Born on the Fourth of July.;Taffy or Taff: a Welsh person. First used ca. 17th century. From the River Taff or the Welsh pronunciation of the name David.
;Taig : used by loyalists in Northern Ireland for members of the nationalist/Catholic/Gaelic community. Derived from the Irish name Tadhg, often mistransliterated as Timothy.
; Tanka: a name for a distinct ethnic group traditionally living in boats off the shore of South China. Originally descriptive, the term Tanka is now considered derogatory and no longer in common use. The people concerned prefer to call themselves by other names, such as 'Nam Hoi Yan' or 'Sui Seung Yan', and other Chinese use more polite terms such as "On-water people", or "people of the southern sea".
;Tar-Baby : a black child. Also used to refer without regard to race to a situation from which it is difficult to extricate oneself. See.
;Teapot: A black person.
;Terrone: an inhabitant of Southern Italy.
;Teuchter: somebody from the north of Scotland or rural Scottish areas.
;Thicklips: a black person.
;Timber nigger: Native Americans.
;Ting tong: Chinese people or East Asians.
;Tinker / tynekere / tinkere / tynkere, -are / tynker / tenker / tinkar / tyncar / tinkard / tynkard / tincker
;Toad: a black person.
;Towel head: a person who wears a turban. Often refers specifically to Sikhs, or Arabs and Muslims—based on the traditional keffiyeh headdress.
;Touch of the tar brush: phrase for a person of predominantly Caucasian ancestry with real or suspected African or Asian distant ancestry.
;Turco-Albanian: A pejorative term historically used in Western Europe and still in use within the Balkans to refer to Muslim Albanians. In the Greek language, the expression is rendered as Turkalvanoi.
;Turk: A person from Llanelli. The origin of this term is uncertain; some theories suggest it due to Llanelli's popularity with Turkish sailors in the late 19th to early 20th century or possibly when Turkish migrants heading for the U.S. stopped in Llanelli and decided to settle due to there being jobs available. However, most likely it's due to the fact that during World War One there was a trade embargo in place during Gallipoli, but Llanelli continued to trade tin with the Turkish; this led to people from neighbouring Swansea and other surrounding areas referring to them as Turks.
;Twinkie: a European American, with little or no social or blood links to any tribe, who claims to be an American Indian ; or an Asian American who has become assimilated into mainstream American culture.
U
;Ukrop: a disparaging term used by Russians to refer to Ukrainians.;Uncle Tom: a black person perceived as behaving in a subservient manner to white authority figures.
V
;Vatnik:Vatnyk, Vata: Russians with pro-Russian jingoist and chauvinist views. A vatnik is a cheap cotton-padded jacket.;Veneco: Venezuelans
W
; Wagon burner : a Native American person. A reference to when Native American tribes would attack wagon trains during the wars in the eastern American frontier.;Wasi'chu or Wasichu: Lakota and Dakota word for non-Indian white person, meaning "the one who takes the best meat for himself."
;West Brit: An Irish person perceived as being insufficiently Irish or too Anglophilic.
;Wetback: an illegal immigrant residing in the United States. Originally applied specifically to Mexican migrant workers who had illegally crossed the U.S. border via the Rio Grande river to find work in the United States, its meaning has since broadened to anyone who illegally enters the United States through its southern border.
;White ears: A white person.
;White interloper: refers to a white person who becomes involved in a place or situation where they are not wanted or are considered not to belong.
;Wigger / Whigger / Wigga : used in 19th-century United States to refer to the Irish. Sometimes used today in reference to white people in a manner similar to white trash or redneck. Also refers to white youth that imitate urban black youth by means of clothing style, mannerisms, and slang speech. Also used by radical Québécois in self-reference, as in the seminal 1968 book White Niggers of America.
;White trash: poor white people. Common usage from the 1830s as a pejorative used by black house slaves against white servants.
;Whitey: a term for a Caucasian.
;Wog: a. any swarthy or dark-skinned foreigner. Possibly derived from "golliwogg." In Britain, it usually refers to dark-skinned people from Asia or Africa, though some use the term to refer to anyone outside the borders of their own country.
;Wop: anyone of Italian descent, derived from the Italian dialectism, "guappo", close to "dude, swaggerer" and other informal appellations, a greeting among male Neapolitans.
X
;Xiao Riben: the Japanese people or a person of Japanese descent.Y
;Yam yam: term used by people from Birmingham to refer to someone from the Black Country.;Yanacona: a term used by modern Mapuche as an insult for Mapuches considered to be subsirvient to non-indigenous Chileans, "sellout". Use of the word "yanacona" to describe people have led legal action in Chile.
;Yank: a contraction of "Yankee" below, first recorded in 1778 and employed internationally by speakers of British English in informal reference to all Americans generally.
;Yankee: from Dutch, possibly from Janke or a dialectical variant of Jan Kaas. First applied by the Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam to Connecticuters and then to other residents of New England, "Yankee" remains in use in the American South in reference to Northerners, often in a mildly pejorative sense.
;Yellow
;Yellow bone:a very light skinned black person. A yellow bone is of mixed black and white ancestry and, in some cases, it's possible they may be predominantly of white heritage but identify as black due to the long-lasting cultural ramifications of the one-drop rule. American singer Beyoncé, who is of Louisiana Creole ancestry, has described herself as yellow bone.
;Yid
;Yuon:The Cambodian word "Yuon" យួន /juən/ is an ethnic slur for Vietnamese, derived from the Indian word for Greek, "Yavana". It can also be spelled as "Youn".
Z
;Zip, Zipperhead:an Asian person. Used by American military personnel during the Korean War and Vietnam War. Also seen in the films Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Premium Rush, Romeo Must Die, and Gran Torino. The phrase "zips in the wire" from Platoon has also been used outside of this context.; Zhyd, zhid, zhydovka, zhidovka: A Jew, from Russian and other Slavic languages, originally neutral, but became pejorative during debate over the Jewish question in the 1800s. Its use was banned by the Soviet authorities in the 1930s.
Dictionaries
- Erin McKean, ed. The New Oxford American Dictionary, second edition.
- Eric Partridge, A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
- John A. Simpson, Oxford English Dictionary Additions Series.
- Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, ed. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary.