golliwog
Britishnoun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Etymology
Origin of golliwog
C19: from the name of a doll character in children's books by Bertha Upton (died 1912), US writer, and Florence Upton (died 1922), US illustrator
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When she was 8, her white grandmother said she looked like a golliwog, a racist caricature, enraging her mother.
From New York Times
Displayed in the window with small handbags were the brand’s monkey-like Pradamalia figurines, which had oversize red lips and appeared to resemble dehumanizing caricatures of black people or golliwogs.
From Fox News
Apparently, calling rightwing, red-faced, middle-aged white men “gammon” is racist, yet golliwogs, according to 63% of Britons in a survey, are not racist.
From The Guardian
Prada, too, faced criticism over a holiday collection of Pradamalia figurines, two of which were also called out for their resemblance to racist caricatures or golliwogs.
From Fox News
In England in the 1960s, I’m sorry to admit, I collected golliwog stickers from the front of Robertson’s marmalade jars and sent them in to get a golliwog doll.
From Washington Post
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
