Word.ws English Dictionary

blackface

Syllables: black·face/ˈblækˌfeɪs/

blackface noun: the practice in which a nonblack person blackens their face using theatrical makeup in order to portray a caricature of a black person.

blackface: the practice in which a nonblack person blackens their face using theatrical makeup in order to...
Image: Samuel Lumiere, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

blackface (countable and uncountable, plural blackfaces)

  1. (uncountable) The practice in which a nonblack person blackens their face using theatrical makeup in order to portray a caricature of a black person.
    • Soberano hit back at Instagram comments, writing, "This is not any form of blackface." But has since backtracked.2019, Farah Andrews, “Filipina Actress Liza Soberano Slammed for Mel B 'Blackface'”, in The National News
  2. (countable) A sheep of the Scottish Blackface breed.
  3. Synonym of boldface.
    • The laboratory procedure in the most important tests and methods is printed in blackface type for convenience of reference.1917, Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Journal - Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania, →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    boldface

Noun (2) capitalized: Blackface

Blackface (countable and uncountable, plural Blackfaces)

  1. Alternative letter-case form of blackface.
    • There is no excuse for donning Blackface.2020 June 17, Britt Hayes, “Netflix removes episode of W/ Bob & David featuring Blackface sketch”, in Newswire, The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 17 Jun 2020

Synonyms of blackface

Forms of blackface

pluralblackfaces
alternative formBlackface
pluralBlackfaces

Origin of blackface

From black + face.

Words formed from blackface

Questions about blackface

What does blackface mean?
Blackface means the practice in which a nonblack person blackens their face using theatrical makeup in order to portray a caricature of a black person.
What part of speech is blackface?
Blackface is a noun.
How do you pronounce blackface?
Blackface is pronounced /ˈblækˌfeɪs/.
What is the plural of blackface?
The plural of blackface is blackfaces.

Words near blackface in the dictionary

  1. blackey
  2. blackeye
  3. blackeyed
  4. blackeyes
  5. blackeys
  6. blackface
  7. blackfaced
  8. blackfaces
  9. blackfacing
  10. Blackfalds
  11. Blackfeet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: blackface (page history and authors); Blackface (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-blackface.wav.

Cite this entry: “blackface.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/blackface. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.