lily-white

noun

variants or lily white

plural lily-whites or lily whites

1

: something that is white

He is a rock-solid, card-carrying free spirit, a young man who wears black tennis shoes in a sport that loves its lily whites …

—Bill Dwyre

2

usually Lily-White or Lily White plural Lily-Whites or Lily Whites, dated, US politics : a member of a political organization favoring the exclusion of Black people

A lifelong Republican in the tradition of Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, [Norris Wright] Cuney fought a decades-long battle with the "Lily-Whites," Texas Republicans obsessed with driving African Americans out of the party.

—Joe Holley

Known as Lily Whites in newspaper headlines, the segregationists maneuvered to exclude Black people from roles of significance.

—Jack Schnedler

Word History

First Known Use

1851, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for lily-white

• acolyte
• aconite
• allanite
• alunite
• amberlite
• ammonite
• amorite
• amphitrite
• analyte
• anchorite
• andesite
• anhydrite

Kids Definition

lily-white

adjective

ˌlil-ē-ˈhwīt, 

-ˈwīt

1

: white as a lily

2

: free from fault or blame : faultless, pure