Jim Crow

American  

Or jim crow

noun

1. a practice or policy of segregating or discriminating against Black people, as in public places, public vehicles, or employment.

2. Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.

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adjective

1. favoring or supporting a segregationist or discriminatory policy of Jim Crow.

2. for Black people only.

   a Jim Crow school.

jim crow British  

/ ˈdʒɪm ˈkrəʊ /

noun

1. 1. the policy or practice of segregating Black people

   2. ( as modifier )

      jim-crow laws

2. 1. a derogatory term for a Black person

   2. ( as modifier )

      a jim-crow saloon

3. an implement for bending iron bars or rails

4. a crowbar fitted with a claw

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Jim Crow Cultural  

1. A descriptive term for the segregation of institutions, businesses, hotels, restaurants, and the like. It also refers to the laws that required racial segregation.

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Other Word Forms

• jim-crowism noun

Etymology

Origin of Jim Crow

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40; so called from the name of a song sung by Thomas Rice (1808–60) in a minstrel show

Example Sentences

You can hear the differences in lives and backgrounds and upbringing, of men and women in the ’60s, of class and Jim Crow, it’s all in there.

From Salon • Feb. 24, 2026

Yet the collapse of Reconstruction in 1877 and the rise of Jim Crow left him embittered, mourning the rollback of hard-won rights.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 24, 2025

One thing it clarifies is why Jim Crow monuments are all rendered in the same backward, Beaux-Arts style, exploiting classical forms and elaborate ornamentation harnessed for the 1890s City Beautiful movement.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025

The Court held that the formula was an anachronism from the Jim Crow era and didn’t account for racial progress.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 13, 2025

After all, in many respects, they are simply doing what black people did during the Jim Crow era—they are turning to each other for support and solace in a society that despises them.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander