Un·cle Tom
ˌəŋ-kəl-ˈtäm 
1
disparaging
: a Black person who is overeager to win the approval of whites (as by obsequious behavior or uncritical acceptance of white values and goals)
2
disparaging
: a person who is overly subservient to or cooperative with authority
the worst floor managers and supervisors by far are women … Some of them are regular Uncle Toms—
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Uncle Tommed; Uncle Tomming
Examples of Uncle Tom in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Literary Hub, 10 Oct. 2025
In some accounts of American history, the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin decisively turned public opinion against slavery, accomplishing what pamphlets and political rhetoric could not.
—Gershom Gorenberg, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2025
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Noun
Stowe is known mainly for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a novel profoundly informed by her Christian nationalist belief that the United States was failing in its mission to become a New Canaan, precisely because of the blasphemous practice of slavery.
—Literary Hub, 10 Oct. 2025
In some accounts of American history, the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin decisively turned public opinion against slavery, accomplishing what pamphlets and political rhetoric could not.
—Gershom Gorenberg, The Atlantic, 3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Uncle Tom.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Uncle%20Tom. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
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