blackface

noun

black·​face ˈblak-ˌfās 

often attributive

1

: dark makeup worn to mimic the appearance of a Black person and especially to mock or ridicule Black people

Note: The wearing of blackface by white performers was, from the early 19th through the mid-20th centuries, a prominent feature of minstrel shows (see minstrel sense 3a) and similar forms of entertainment featuring exaggerated and inaccurate caricatures of Black people. The use of blackface is considered deeply offensive.

2

plural blackfaces : a performer wearing blackface : minstrel sense 3a

Examples of blackface in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

She has been pilloried for doing an episode of her first television show, The Sarah Silverman Program, in blackface, and protested by Asian American groups for her use of the aforementioned slur on Conan. —Stephen Rodrick, Rolling Stone, 18 May 2025

Before the Black Lives Matter movement forced a reckoning in Hollywood, Fey made the poor decision to show white performers in blackface on 30 Rock. —Judy Berman, Time, 1 May 2025

Trudeau was thought to be so politically bulletproof that even a bizarre blackface scandal a few years later would not sink him. —Kevin Lynn, Newsweek, 6 Jan. 2025

Turner said in his 25 years of theater work he’s never come across the problem the Grand is experiencing, but using white actors in blackface in 2025 isn’t an option. —Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1847, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing blackface

• digital blackface

Rhymes for blackface

• abase
• airspace
• apace
• backspace
• biface
• birthplace
• boldface
• bookcase
• braincase
• briefcase
• carcase
• crankcase