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lily-white

[ adjective lil-ee-hwahyt, -wahyt; noun lil-ee-hwahyt, -wahyt ]
/ adjective ˈlɪl iˈʰwaɪt, -ˈwaɪt; noun ˈlɪl iˌʰwaɪt, -ˌwaɪt /
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See synonyms for lily-white on Thesaurus.com
adjective
white as a lily: soft lily-white skin.
pure; untouched by corruption or imperfection; above reproach: He tries to pass himself off as some sort of lily-white saint, but he's not.
designating or pertaining to any faction, organization, or group opposing the inclusion of Black people, especially in political or social life.
noun
a member of a lily-white organization, especially a member of a former faction of the Republican Party in the South opposed to the inclusion of African Americans in the party or in political life in general.Compare black and tan (def. 3).
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Origin of lily-white

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English lylie-whyt

Words nearby lily-white

lily-of-the-Nile, lily of the valley, lily pad, lily-trotter, lilyturf, lily-white, lim., Lima, lima bean, limacine, limaçon
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to lily-white

admirable, blameless, bueno, characteristic, classic, classical, commendable, correct, estimable, excellent, faultless, good, guiltless, honorable, illustrative, inculpable, innocent, irreprehensible, irreproachable, laudable

How to use lily-white in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lily-white

lily-white
adjective
of a pure whitelily-white skin
informal pure; irreproachable
US informal
  1. discriminating against Black peoplea lily-white club
  2. racially segregated
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
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