Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun White facial makeup.
- noun A white-faced animal, especially a Hereford.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun uncountable
Makeup that makes theface appearwhite , as sometimes worn byclowns ,mimes , or in theGothic subculture . - noun countable Any
bird of thegenus Aphelocephala . - noun A
Hereford cow. - noun countable, slang A person of European descent. (See usage notes.)
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The image of a black man in whiteface is practically non-existent in American culture.
Unfunny = Racist 2009
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Anyway, what is the image of Obama in whiteface supposed to mean?
Unfunny = Racist 2009
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There are not just a "few signs" that are at the protesting rallies that are inappropriate, such as Obama in whiteface, etc. – there are several.
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If they had cast Kenan Thompson as Obama, would he have had to do it in whiteface and would that have been alright?
SeeLight: 2008
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If they had cast Kenan Thompson as Obama, would he have had to do it in whiteface and would that have been alright?
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In an interview with The New Yorker three and a half decades later, when her husband was vice president of the United States, Lynne Cheney said that she distinctly remembered ‘going to class and having to walk through people in whiteface, conducting guerrilla theater, often swinging animal entrails over their heads, as part of a protest against Dow Chemical.’
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While it was supposedly a parody of the Jackson Five and Michael Jackson, it had nothing at all to do with either, other than the costume worn by the lead dancer in whiteface.
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In addition to electrifying audiences with his Othello, he became famous for his performances as Shylock, Macbeth, and King Lear, all in whiteface.
Introduction 2002
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Although the title of the picture is "Evil Clown," and the image bears some resemblance to The Joker of Batman lore, how can this picture not be construed as a racially-motivated attempt to literally paint Barack Obama in "whiteface"?
Pinellas GOP posts inflammatory photo of Barack Obama in "white face" Peter Schorsch 2009
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(The whole "whiteface" thing, I think, makes the Obama version much more
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