mammy
Americannoun
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mammies
plural
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Informal. mother.
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Disparaging and Offensive. (formerly in the southern United States) a Black woman engaged to take care of white children or as a servant to a white family.
noun
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a child's word for mother 1
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a Black woman employed as a nurse or servant to a White family
Sensitive Note
At the time of the Civil War and into the 20th century, the mammy was characterized as being strong, kind, and loyal. But her image was also that of an overweight, unattractive, and often illiterate enslaved household servant. This reinforced the association of this designation with racial stereotypes of inferiority and abject submissiveness. See also Aunt Jemima.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mammy
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:
Per Ferris State University‘s Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, the mammy caricature was “deliberately constructed to suggest ugliness.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2021
The thing is, when you see a family with mammy and daddy strolling along with their nice nice children, and you feel a twinge of green, don’t hurt your head.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 15, 2020
“You were a very proud mammy and you children will grow up knowing how strong their mammy was and make you so proud. RIP beautiful. Shine bright like the diamond you were.”
From Fox News ● Feb. 5, 2019
Her 1972 breakthrough piece, “The Liberation of Aunt Jemima,” merges the two by transforming the racist stereotype of the smiling black mammy into an armed freedom fighter.
From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2018
“Your mamma too proud for you. What mammy say.”
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
Assemblage artist Betye Saar, who’s known for arming stereotypical images of mammies with deadly weaponry, and has influenced generations of artists, has died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
By arming her mammies with revolvers, rifles and bullets, Saar turned a symbol of servility into one of militancy and power.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
"It was just pure joy, words can't describe it, to have those four healthy babies, their mammies and daddies and their granny and grandad."
From BBC ● Mar. 14, 2021
He was talking about “A Subtlety,” a massive sculpture by the artist Kara Walker, a sugar-coated monument to African-American mammies and to the slave labor that built the 19th-century sugar trade.
From New York Times ● Jul. 4, 2014
At de camp meetings de wimmens pulled off de head rags, 'cept de mammies.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves South Carolina Narratives, Part 2 by Work Projects Administration
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
