- present participle of whitewash.
whitewashing
Americannoun
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the act or process of whitening with whitewash.
The picket fence could use a few minor repairs, but mostly it needs a good whitewashing.
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an instance or methodical practice of covering up or glossing over the faults or errors of someone or something.
Behind her assurances that all the coffee was fair-trade, there always lurked the possibility of some creative whitewashing.
We would have known about this high-level corruption much sooner if it weren’t for the carefully orchestrated whitewashing within the department.
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the casting of a white actor to play a character of color in a film, television show, or play.
Whitewashing has a long tradition in the history of Hollywood casting.
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in a representation of a historical era or event, the focus on a member or members of the dominant cultural group rather than the minority individual or group whose presence would be more historically accurate.
The documentarian's whitewashing preserves the false notion that our race to the moon was won only on the shoulders of white heterosexual men.
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Etymology
Origin of whitewashing
First recorded in 1650–60 whitewashing for def. 1; 1760–70 whitewashing for def. 2; 2005–10 whitewashing for def. 3a; 1995–2000 whitewashing for def. 3b; whitewash ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. )
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.
Whitewashing history isn’t something that only plagues Hollywood, however.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2020
Whitewashing concerns, while certainly understandable given Hollywood’s track record, are still a little premature, as we don’t yet know much about how Pure Flix will approach the production.
From Slate • Jul. 12, 2018
Whitewashing brightens a room and evokes the aged look of bleached driftwood.
From Washington Post • Jun. 22, 2018
"Whitewashing" casting differs from "colour-blind casting," where a role is cast when factors of race or ethnicity are irrelevant to the character or plot.
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2015
I tell you the little story of the Whitewashing of Theodosia Baxter.
From Miss Theodosia's Heartstrings by Donnell, Annie Hamilton
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.
