doughface
Americannoun
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a Northerner who sympathized with the South during the controversies over new territories and slavery before the Civil War.
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a congressman from a northern state not opposed to slavery in the South.
Etymology
Origin of doughface
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.
The choice went instead to James Buchanan, a colorless Pennsylvania doughface with a long record of party service dating back to Andrew Jackson’s day.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
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At the same time, emphasizing Pierce’s status as a doughface threatened to push anti-slavery Democrats into the splinter Free Soil Party, fracturing the party in the North.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2012
In the morning Dave sought out Midshipman Farley to inquire to whom the doughface should be returned.
From Dave Darrin's Fourth Year at Annapolis by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)
Not so many, probably, are familiar with the doughface, which, at the time this is written, was a new importation.
From Dave Darrin's Fourth Year at Annapolis by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)
The country at large has had to pay dearly for that old doughface love for the South; it is paying every day in lives and money.
From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No. 1, July, 1862 by Various
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.