Blaxploitation
noun
a subgenre of American cinema in the 1970s featuring Black protagonists in exploitation films intended to appeal to African American audiences.
Jump To:
-
Blaxploitation
-
blaxploitation
blaxploitationnouna genre of films featuring Black stereotypes
Blaxploitation
American
[blak-sploi-tey-shuhn]
/ ˌblæk splɔɪˈteɪ ʃən /
Or
Blacksploitation
noun
(often lowercase)
blaxploitation
British
/ ˌblæksplɔɪˈteɪʃən /
noun
Etymology
Origin of Blaxploitation
Blend of Blax (respelling of Blacks ) + exploitation; coined by Dr. Junius Griffin (1929–2005) of the Beverly Hills/Hollywood NAACP in 1972 in response to the movie Super Fly (1972)
Vocabulary lists containing blaxploitation
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.
See Examples For:
He did the soundtrack to the Blaxploitation movie “Coffy,” which was co-written by its star Pam Grier and director Jack Hall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2025
So we’re talking about Wakanda, I can also trace it back to the Blaxploitation movement.
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
The 1970s movie franchise was iconic as it was among the first of what came to be known as Blaxploitation films, a genre featuring action movies that centred on heroic black characters.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2023
A projector above a photo booth shows clips from classic Black films and Blaxploitation movies, along with candid photos of attendees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2023
What do you think that Blaxploitation means in 2022?
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2022
She played the scheming, seductive Iris in the 1970 blaxploitation comedy classic “Cotton Comes to Harlem.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
He also wrote and produced the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Coffy starring Pam Grier.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025
The blaxploitation actor starred in the 1971 "Shaft" film series that depicted Roundtree's iconic character John Shaft, a private detective with a brown leather jacket with a turned-up collar and a dark mustache.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2023
The blaxploitation films were primarily aimed at the African American audiences.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2023
Inspired by the blaxploitation films that stormed the movie industry in the 1970s, he shot his own Super 8 adaptations with friends.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
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.
