wetback

American

[wet-bak] / ˈwɛtˌbæk /

noun

Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.

a contemptuous term used to refer to a Mexican laborer who enters the U.S. illegally, as by wading the Rio Grande.

wetback British

/ ˈwɛtˌbæk /

noun

informal a Mexican labourer who enters the US illegally

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

wetbacks

plural

Etymology

Origin of wetback

An Americanism dating back to 1945–50; wet + back ¹

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023