lily-white
Americanadjective
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- unintegrated, discriminatory, segregated
noun
adjective
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of a pure white
lily-white skin
-
informal pure; irreproachable
-
informal
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discriminating against Black people
a lily-white club
-
racially segregated
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Etymology
Origin of lily-white
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English lylie-whyt
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.
But if Jackson seemed like an awkward fit for a mostly rural, lily-white state, he nonetheless saw possibilities there.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
It’s a beautiful, sometimes shocking NC-17 story, kept out of the lily-white, upper crust canon of literature — until now.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 11, 2022
Margaret presides over a crumbling manor whose décor is dominated by portraits of lily-white colonialists from centuries past.
From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2020
No longer a caricature of a rich lily-white County, it’s 40% non-Hispanic white, 34% Hispanic, 21.7% Asian and 2.1% Black.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2020
Quickly those lily-white ankles became covered in mud.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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.
