slant-eyed

[ slant-ahyd, slahnt- ]

adjective

1. having eyes with epicanthic folds.
2. having eyes that appear to slant.
3. Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. being from East Asia, especially a Chinese or Japanese person.

Sensitive Note

Slant, slant-eye, slant-eyed, and slope are highly offensive slurs that derive from a description of Asian eyes that appear to slant because of epicanthic folds. The adjective slant-eyed was first used in the 1860s. The noun slant-eye dates from the 1920s, and was shortened to slant at the beginning of World War II. The term slope first appeared in the late 1940s. These slurs were all used during the Vietnam War to refer to the Vietnamese.

Word History and Origins

Origin of slant-eyed¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

And in many productions of ballet’s biggest moneymaker, “The Nutcracker,” including George Balanchine’s version for the New York City Ballet, there are troubling ethnic caricatures, such as White dancers in slant-eyed makeup, wide hats and geisha wigs performing head- bobbing, finger-pointing movements.

From Washington Post

A Sacramento school district employee has come under fire after video during a Zoom class showed her making a slant-eyed gesture that is disparaging to Asians.

From Los Angeles Times

As Dimitra Fimi, author of Tolkien, Race and Cultural History, writes on her blog, the forces of “good” in Middle-earth are fair-skinned, while forces of “evil” are dark; Orcs are “slant-eyed, swarthy and sallow-skinned”; the “heroes” are all white-skinned.

From The Guardian

Sergio Busato was photographed smiling and making a slant-eyed gesture with his fingers after Russia beat the Koreans in a decisive qualification match for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Kaliningrad, Russia, on Aug. 4.

From Seattle Times

Sergio Busato was photographed smiling and making a slant-eyed gesture with his fingers after Russia beat the Koreans in a decisive qualification match for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in Kaliningrad, Russia, on Aug. 4.

From Washington Times