Word.ws English Dictionary

wetbacks

wetbacks is the plural of wetback.

Meaning of wetback

Noun

wetback (plural wetbacks)

  1. (derogatory, slang) A Mexican or Central American who illegally enters the United States of America from its southern border.
    • Mr. HUDSPETH. […] I stood here and did all in my power to keep the “wetback” […] from coming across. And I stand here to-day asking for that.
    • The CHAIRMAN. […] What is a “wetback”?
    • Mr. HUDSPETH. You have heard a “wetback” described; he is a fellow that crosses the river surreptitiously.1920, Temporary admission of illiterate Mexican laborers: Hearings before the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, 66th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 141
    Synonyms:
    mojado
  2. (derogatory, slang) A person of the mestizo race; a mojado.

Questions about wetbacks

What is wetbacks the plural of?
Wetbacks is the plural of wetback.

Words near wetbacks in the dictionary

  1. wetas
  2. Wetaskiwin
  3. wetawd
  4. wetawds
  5. wetback
  6. wetbacks
  7. wetbird
  8. wetbirds
  9. wetbrain
  10. wetbrains
  11. wetdown

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: wetbacks (page history and authors); wetback (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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