gringo

[gring-goh]

noun, plural grin·gos. Slang: Usually Disparaging and Offensive.

a term used in Latin America or Spain to refer to a foreigner, especially one of U.S. or British descent (sometimes used facetiously).

Origin of gringo

1840–50, Americanism; < Spanish: foreign language, foreigner, especially English-speaking (pejorative); probably alteration of griego Greek. The belief that word is from the song “Green Grow the Lilacs,” popular during U.S.-Mexican War, is without substance

Usage note

Use of this term implies that the foreigner is an outsider who does not understand or respect Hispanic culture or does not treat Hispanics well. However, gringo is sometimes used consciously for humorous effect, without intent to offend.

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

Examples from the Web for gringo

Contemporary Examples of gringo

The story of their visit quickly spread among the ‘Gringo Trail’ and McFadden lucked into a business as the unofficial tour guide.
Cocaine, Politicians and Wives: Inside the World’s Most Bizarre Prison
Jason Batansky
October 12, 2014
After that, backpackers on the South American ‘Gringo Trail’ began touring and partying in San Pedro.
Cocaine, Politicians and Wives: Inside the World’s Most Bizarre Prison
Jason Batansky
October 12, 2014

Historical Examples of gringo

Also at any moment the devil may send me a Gringo; their scouts are as plenty as scorpions.
Rita
Laura E. Richards
Gringo, if you are not more careful we shall have to gag you!
Uncle Sam's Boys as Lieutenants
H. Irving Hancock
Does my brother know the Gringo has asked the Apaches for a guide?
The Trail-Hunter
Gustave Aimard
Gringo pig of a spy, you shall die and be fed to the buzzards!
Uncle Sam Detective
William Atherton Du Puy
In his arroyo again, he proposed to make the Gringo as a sieve.
The Missourian
Eugene P. (Eugene Percy) Lyle

British Dictionary definitions for gringo

gringo

noun plural -gos

a person from an English-speaking country: used as a derogatory term by Latin Americans

Word Origin for gringo

C19: from Spanish: foreigner, probably from griego Greek, hence an alien

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 gringo

1849, from Mexican Spanish gringo, contemptuous word for "foreigner," from Spanish gringo "foreign, unintelligible talk, gibberish," perhaps ultimately from griego "Greek." The "Diccionario Castellano" (1787) says gringo was used in Malaga for "anyone who spoke Spanish badly," and in Madrid for "the Irish."

gringo in Culture

gringo

In Latin America, a foreigner, especially a North American or Englishman; usually a term of contempt.