lily-white

American  

[lil-ee-hwahyt, -wahyt, lil-ee-hwahyt, -wahyt] / ˈlɪl iˈʰwaɪt, -ˈwaɪt, ˈlɪl iˌʰwaɪt, -ˌwaɪt /

adjective

1. white as a lily.

   soft lily-white skin.

2. 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.

3. 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

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noun

1. 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.

lily-white British  

adjective

1. of a pure white

   lily-white skin

2. informal pure; irreproachable

3. informal

   1. discriminating against Black people

      a lily-white club

   2. racially segregated

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Etymology

Origin of lily-white

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

Example Sentences

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

Cole’s ascendance as a star is just one example of how romance—which accounts for 23 percent of the U.S. fiction market—has progressed past the lily-white days of yore.

From Slate • Sep. 25, 2020

Quickly those lily-white ankles became covered in mud.

From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge

Related Words

• clean
• decent
• fresh
• good
• honest
• true