cooly

[koo-lee]

noun, plural coo·lies, adjective

coolie.

coolie

or coo·ly

[koo-lee]

noun Disparaging and Offensive.

an unskilled laborer, especially formerly in China and India.
an unskilled laborer employed cheaply, especially one brought from Asia.
a contemptuous term used to refer to an Asian, especially an Indian living in South Africa.

adjective

Informal. characteristic of or suitable for a coolie: working for coolie wages.

Origin of coolie

1545–55; < Urdu kūlī < Tamil kūli hire, hireling

Usage note

Both meanings of “unskilled Asian laborer” are found almost exclusively in historical contexts, suggesting imperialistic exploitation of these workers. But coolie is still current as an insulting term used to refer to a person of Asian descent, especially in South Africa.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cooly

Contemporary Examples of cooly

Leto even knows he killed the performance, cooly uttering, “There you go...” at the end.
The Best (and Worst) Rihanna Covers: Jared Leto, Vin Diesel, Selena Gomez, More
The Daily Beast
September 19, 2013

Historical Examples of cooly

Cooly (Tamil kúli), a labourer in the fields; also a porter.
Indian Fairy Tales
Anonymous
That's the whole force of the illustration, to my mind, Cooly.
Red Pepper's Patients
Grace S. Richmond
As you are cooly to decide, I will as cooly give you the qualities of my mistress.
James Fenimore Cooper
Mary E. Phillips
He had been much in war; careless of wounds, he was cooly intent on destroying the enemy.
Boswell's Correspondence with the Honourable Andrew Erskine, and His Journal of a Tour to Corsica
James Boswell
Horatio cooly said, he could not but confess he had been to blame, and must therefore allow the justice of her proceeding.
The Fortunate Foundlings
Eliza Fowler Haywood

British Dictionary definitions for cooly

coolie

cooly

noun plural -ies

a cheaply hired unskilled Oriental labourer
derogatory an Indian living in South Africa

Word Origin for coolie

C17: from Hindi kulī, probably of Dravidian origin; related to Tamil kūli hire, hireling

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cooly

coolie

name given by Europeans to hired laborers in India and China, c.1600, from Hindi quli "hired servant," probably from kuli, name of an aboriginal tribe or caste in Gujarat. The name was picked up by the Portuguese, who used it in southern India (where by coincidence kuli in Tamil meant "hire") and in China.