noun
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taboo (in southern Africa) any Black African
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offensive (among Muslims) a non-Muslim or infidel
Sensitive Note
In reference to a Black person, Kaffir was a neutral term during the colonial period, but in post-apartheid South Africa it is considered hate speech, to be avoided by using the euphemistic K-word, much like the N-word.
Usage
In South Africa the use of this word is nowadays completely taboo, and is indeed actionable in the courts. It is also advisable not to use the word in any of the compounds to which it gave rise
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Kaffir
First recorded in 1570–80; from Arabic kāfir “unbeliever, skeptic”
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:
In the tasting room, adorned with vintage family photos, there are about two dozen dark-glass spritz bottles, each labeled hazelnoot, Kaffir lime, oranje-bloesem and an assortment of other fruits, nuts, herbs, flowers and spices.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2021
Lemon grass, ginger, Kaffir lime leaves or amchur, a tart preserved Indian mango, can have similar brightening effects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2015
The Bodia shop sells products that are all natural and use ingredients like lemon grass and Kaffir lime sourced across South East Asia.
From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2014
He’ll serve it over sticky rice topped with red-curry coconut sauce from a 10-gallon batch and a slaw of Kaffir lime leaf, zucchini, carrots and peanuts, topped with micro-cilantro leaves.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2014
When the old man saw it himself he went down to John Conrads and traded his old fiddle and a cultivator for some Kaffir corn.”
From The Indians' Last Fight Or The Dull Knife Raid by Dennis Collins
For some time previous to 1811 the Kaffirs, however, had taken possession of the neutral ground and committed depredations on the colonists.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various
It is a strange coincidence and presumably only a coincidence that Story 118, ‘The Hyena outwitted’ is known in a precisely similar form among the Kaffirs of South Africa.
From Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas
By this time all had learnt to look cautiously out for the derailing of the trains, and Kaffirs with flags were posted at points in the line to signal if danger were ahead.
From South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 2 (of 6) From the Commencement of the War to the Battle of Colenso, 15th Dec. 1899 by Louis Creswicke
Under British administration the war was carried on at first by regulars only, but when these were defeated by the Kaffirs, an army of Swazies, as well as Volunteers, was collected.
From A Century of Wrong by F. W. Reitz
Know by this that on the fourth day of this moon we gave battle to the Kaffirs who call themselves Inglees, having with us the Chief Hussein with ten thousand of the faithful.
From The Green Flag by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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.
