whitewash
Americannoun
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a composition, as of lime and water or of whiting, size, and water, used for whitening walls, woodwork, etc.
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anything, as deceptive words or actions, used to cover up or gloss over faults, errors, or wrongdoings, or absolve a wrongdoer from blame.
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Sports Informal. a defeat in which the loser fails to score.
verb (used with object)
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to whiten with whitewash.
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to cover up or gloss over the faults or errors of, as to shield from suspicion or blame.
His complaint with the soft drink industry is that they’ve whitewashed a serious health concern by normalizing the overconsumption of sugary beverages.
The plan was to whitewash all the preliminary deals that led up to the “inadvertently illicit” contract, but the investigation revealed the coach’s hands all over those deals.
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Sports Informal. to defeat by keeping the opponent from scoring.
The home team whitewashed the visitors eight to nothing.
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to cast a white actor to play (a character of color, or a character belonging to a minority group) in a film, television show, or play.
The studio executives whitewashed the role of Genghis Khan, choosing a famous white actor who was a popular box-office draw.
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to exclude or erase (a minority character or group) by substituting a member or members of the dominant cultural group in fictional representations of historical events.
The film whitewashes Black trans women, attributing their contributions and actions to white gay men.
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noun
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a substance used for whitening walls and other surfaces, consisting of a suspension of lime or whiting in water, often with other substances, such as size, added
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informal deceptive or specious words or actions intended to conceal defects, gloss over failings, etc
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informal a defeat in a sporting contest in which the loser is beaten in every match, game, etc in a series
they face the prospect of a whitewash in the five-test series
verb
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to cover or whiten with whitewash
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informal to conceal, gloss over, or suppress
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informal to defeat (an opponent or opposing team) by winning every match in a series
Usage
What does whitewash mean? To whitewash is to intentionally hide some kind of wrongdoing, error, or unpleasant situation—or deal with it in a way that attempts to make it seem less bad than it is. Whitewash can also be used as a noun referring to the deceptive words or actions used to cover something up in this way. These figurative senses of the word come from its original, literal meaning: to cover or whiten with whitewash—a paintlike substance used to whiten surfaces like walls and wood. The word sometimes simply means to paint something white. (A classic passage in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain involves Tom Sawyer tricking other boys into whitewashing a fence for him.)The metaphor used in the figurative sense of the word is that of painting over flaws to cover them up instead of actually fixing them. This often involves only superficially addressing the problem, trying to distract from it, or trying to change the subject. The verb phrases gloss over and cover up are used in similar ways. Example: The PR team has continually tried to whitewash the scandal by suggesting that the company was a victim of its own CEO’s negligence. More recently, the word whitewash has become a slang term meaning to cast a white actor to play a character of color, such as in a TV show or movie. For example, if a movie were made based on a comic book in which a character was Asian, casting a white actor to play that character would be an instance of whitewashing. Whitewash is also used in situations in which members of a marginalized group are excluded or erased through substitution with members of the dominant cultural group, such as in fictional representations of historical events. The adjective whitewashed is sometimes used in a negative way to describe people of color whose identity or personality is thought to be more like that of their white peers than that of other people with the same cultural identity, especially when they primarily associate with white people. The term is typically used by people of color to criticize other people of color, such as those in immigrant or communities who are thought to have assimilated to the dominant white culture without maintaining many or any elements of their own cultural identity. Example: Finally, we get a film in which we see a realistic depiction of the Black and Indigenous women behind the movement—not a version of the story that has been whitewashed by Hollywood.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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whitewashsimple
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whitewashessimple
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have whitewashedperfect
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has whitewashedperfect
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am whitewashingprogressive
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are whitewashingprogressive
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is whitewashingprogressive
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have been whitewashingperfect progressive
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has been whitewashingperfect progressive
Past
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whitewashedsimple
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had whitewashedperfect
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was whitewashingprogressive
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were whitewashingprogressive
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had been whitewashingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of whitewash
Vocabulary lists containing whitewash
White
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"A Day's Work," Excerpt from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"
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Example Sentences
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See Examples For:
No, but there was an angry written statement from Prince Harry and fellow claimant Baroness Doreen Lawrence - the mother of Stephen Lawrence - attacking the judgement as a "complete and obvious whitewash".
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Patriotism doesn’t ask us to whitewash the country’s shortcomings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
But Vermeer’s symbol-free whitewash is alive with light in the space between the wall and his eye.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Film critics have described the new Michael Jackson biopic as a "whitewash", with several reviewers saying it tells a "sanitised" version of his life and career.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
The committee issued a public warning, telling recent arrivals to clean their homes thoroughly, burn gunpowder to purify the air, dump lime down their privies, and whitewash every room.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
Tradwife content whitewashes history, but an honest look shows that contempt for housewives was a widespread theme in the past.
From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2026
Since their Test debut at Lord's in 1932, they've toured England 18 times but won only three series - 1971, 1986 and 2007 - while suffering four whitewashes.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2025
Critics say the new text still whitewashes the history of Bruce’s Beach, and many questioned whether creating a new monument actually amounts to justice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2023
In peacetime, Mr. Drobovych led Ukraine’s Institute of National Memory, an official institution tasked with re-examining the Communist era after years of whitewashes.
From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2022
She made one in the first and three in the second, and then comes four beautiful whitewashes.
From Frank Merriwell at Yale by Standish, Burt L.
Estrada disagrees with calls to completely remove Chavez from murals, and thinks they should be renovated and updated rather than "whitewashed".
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
The blunt imposing tower, in the rear, is in fact a chapel, a soaring whitewashed space illuminated by its own skylight.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
The 2021 champions were whitewashed 3-0 in Pakistan and are missing key players through injury, notably star pacemen Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
From Barron's ● Feb. 10, 2026
That is why this history and legacy must be whitewashed and destroyed.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026
The buildings were freshly whitewashed, laid out in neat grids like the camp had been designed by a fussy math teacher.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
Instead of leaning into cliché or whitewashing, he radiated dignity, cultural pride and a new kind of Black romantic masculinity—sensual without becoming caricature.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
“Roger W. Straus Jr. completes the process of whitewashing the family name,” she writes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025
I’m not in any way whitewashing what I did, but some people have been kind and compassionate.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2024
Indeed, their investigatory history appears to be one of whitewashing scandals at the court.
From Slate ● Jan. 22, 2024
Instead of being shot, Yelena was imprisoned in the basement of the officers’ guardhouse for ten days with the job of whitewashing the walls.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
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.
