niggers

Noun

nigger (plural niggers)

1. (ethnic, offensive, slur, vulgar) A black person; a person of black African descent.
   • It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger—but I done it, and I warn't ever sorry for it afterwards, neither.1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XV, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 133
   1. (ethnic, offensive, slang, slur, vulgar) A person of black African descent who behaves badly or unconventionally (whether the speaker approves or disapproves).
      • There's black people, and there's niggers. And niggers have got to go. Every time black people wanna have a good time, ign'ant-ass niggers fuck it up.1996, Chris Rock: Bring the Pain, Chris Rock (actor)
2. (ethnic, offensive, slur, vulgar) A member of any typically dark-skinned people (now especially in combinations like prairie nigger or sand nigger).
   • He never lost his appetite -
     He bigger grew and bigger;
     And proved, with every inch of height,
     A nigger is a nigger.1880 June 19, Henry Kendall, “My Piccaninny”, in The Australian Town and Country Journal, page 28, column 4
3. (African-American Vernacular) A friend, particularly a fellow black person (often as an informal term of address).
   • “Snoop Dog!” one of them yelled. “That’s my nigga from Long Beach, man.”1997, McKinley Lee, Chosen by Fate: My Life inside Death Row Records, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   homie, nigga

4. (figuratively, especially African-American Vernacular, otherwise offensive) A person of any kind (particularly as a term of abuse).
   • People be surprised. I have friends who're all kinds a letters. Everybody loves me an' I love everybody. I got friends who are Ls, I got friends who are Bs, and I got friends who are Gs. But the Ts hate my fucking guts. And I don't blame 'em! It's not their fault. It's mine. I can't stop tellin'...2021, Dave Chapelle, The Closer
5. (especially, offensive) A member of a group that is oppressed or marginalized in the manner of black people.
   • The governor made it into office by campaigning against the niggers. And people should understand who the niggers are. It's the elderly one week. Then it's those on public assistance. Now he sees women as niggers, and he's trying to do them in.1979 April 14, Jil Clark, Mel King, King Axes Women's Commission, page 1

See all 21 meanings of nigger