High Yellow Definition & Meaning

American

Sensitive Note

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

high yellow American Also high yaller

noun

Slang: Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive.

1. a term used to refer to a light-skinned Black person.

Sensitive Note

This term implies that the person has a high proportion of white ancestry and looks more like a white person than a Black person. The term was most commonly used in the American South in the late 19th century and early 20th century, though it is still sometimes used today by both white people and Black people. See also yellow.

Other Word Forms

• high-yellow adjective

Etymology

Origin of high yellow

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Rabbitt also tried his hand at singing a similar kind of garage rock ’n’ roll, releasing the stomping singles “Wishy-Washy Woman” and “Pushover” in 1965; he performed the latter in the Larry Buchanan-directed exploitation film “High Yellow.”

From Los Angeles Times

They live with her extended family in Gulfport, Miss. Trethewey describes her “high yellow” relatives in “elegant lace-up shoes . . . and creased trousers,” living on the same patch of land for generations.

From Washington Post

Shoppers and sellers in the Minyi neighborhood on the city’s southwest side had to do their business over high yellow barriers, as access to the community is still controlled.

From Washington Times

Ford is partial to classic looks and lines, but threw in some fun with accessories like giant, feathered earrings in many colors, and a pair of high, yellow animal-skin cowboy boots.

From Washington Times

They can’t define “high yellow,” “caramel,” “redbone” or other terms from African America’s vast vocabulary of color.

From Seattle Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.