Word.ws English Dictionary

Johnny Foreigner

Johnny Foreigner proper noun: foreigners collectively; people who are not British, as expressed by an individual with an out-dated, nationalistic or imperialistic perspective.

Proper noun

Johnny Foreigner

  1. (UK, derogatory, informal, satirical) Foreigners collectively; people who are not British, as expressed by an individual with an out-dated, nationalistic or imperialistic perspective.
    • No wonder Johnny Foreigner lays in supplies of the stale bread rolls whenever he appears over the horizon.1983, Richard Ingrams, John Wells, Private Eye - Issues 550-575, page 70
    • Mr. King's message was that Johnny Foreigner does it better than us. In Germany, in Japan and in the United States, these bottlenecks just do not happen.1984 December 3, John Torode, “Why must training for tomorrow be a dead turn-off?”, in The Guardian, page 18

Examples of Johnny Foreigner in a sentence

  • A time when Johnny Foreigner knew his place.1999, James Chapman, Licence to thrill: a cultural history of the James Bond films:
  • ...the constant threat of spontaneous outbreaks of singing on Centre Court by pop has-beens and the occasional ungentlemanly antics of Johnny Foreigner...2004, Charles Godfrey-Faussett, Footprint England:

Synonyms of Johnny Foreigner

Origin of Johnny Foreigner

UK late-20th century. The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang says "first recorded in 1990 but in use earlier". From John or Johnny as a personified idea. Compare Johnny Canuck (“Canadian”), Johnny Crapaud (“Frenchman”), Johnny Reb (“Confederate American”).

Questions about Johnny Foreigner

What does Johnny Foreigner mean?
Johnny Foreigner means foreigners collectively; people who are not British, as expressed by an individual with an out-dated, nationalistic or imperialistic perspective.
How do you use Johnny Foreigner in a sentence?
A time when Johnny Foreigner knew his place.
What part of speech is Johnny Foreigner?
Johnny Foreigner is a proper noun.

Words near Johnny Foreigner in the dictionary

  1. Johnny Canuck
  2. Johnny Canucks
  3. Johnny Citizen
  4. Johnny Crapaud
  5. Johnny Crapauds
  6. Johnny Foreigner
  7. Johnny Grindle
  8. Johnny Grindles
  9. Johnny Hop
  10. Johnny Hopper
  11. Johnny Hoppers

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Johnny Foreigner (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.

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