Phrases
the N-word or less commonly the n-word
used euphemistically to refer to the word nigger
A suburban Philadelphia school expelled "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" from its curriculum over the book's overuse of the N-word.David K. Li

Examples of N-word in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In the late twenty-tens, there was an energetic effort to police the bounds of acceptable speech, and a growing consensus that non-Black people should never utter the N-word. Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 15 May 2025 That didn't square with her experiences at school, getting called the N-word. David Oliver, USA Today, 9 May 2025 Shiloh Hendrix, the Minnesota mom filmed repeatedly saying the N-word after being accused of using that epithet to berate a child, has raised more than $750,000 since launching a fundraising campaign one week ago. Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News, 8 May 2025 In the video, a man in Rochester, a city roughly 90 miles south of Minneapolis, confronts the woman for calling a 5-year-old boy the N-word. Terry Tang, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for N-word

Word History

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of N-word was in 1985

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Cite this Entry

“N-word.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/N-word. Accessed 21 May. 2025.

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