half-caste

[ haf-kast, hahf-kahst ]

noun
  1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of mixed racial or ethnic descent.

  2. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person of mixed European and Hindu or European and Muslim parentage.

  1. a contemptuous term used to refer to a person descended from parents of two different social strata.

adjective
  1. of or relating to a half-caste.

Origin of half-caste

1
First recorded in 1785–95

Words Nearby half-caste

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use half-caste in a sentence

  • The half-caste knew the Indians too well not to understand the ironical meaning of the words pronounced by the Guaycurus chief.

    The Guide of the Desert | Gustave Aimard

British Dictionary definitions for half-caste

half-caste

/ taboo /


noun
  1. a person having parents of different races, esp the offspring of a European and an Indian

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or designating such a person

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