wop

[ wop ]

/ wɒp /

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noun Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.

a contemptuous term used to refer to an Italian or a person of Italian descent.

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Origin of wop

An Americanism first recorded in 1910–15; from Italian (Neapolitan and Sicilian dialect) guappo “bully, showy,” from Spanish guapo “a dandy”; further origin uncertain, possibly ultimately from Latin vappa “wine that has gone flat; worthless or useless person.” The belief that this word is an acronym of “without papers/passport,” in reference to immigration status, is without substance

Words nearby wop

Wooster, woot, Wootton, woo-woo, woozy, wop, wop-wops, Worcester, Worcester china, Worcester sauce, Worcestershire

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use wop in a sentence

I used to sing just to do it, but then Art put together a doo-wop group.
The Stacks: The Neville Brothers Stake Their Claim as Bards of the Bayou|John Ed Bradley|April 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You can hear his love for the doo wop of his youth in Velvets songs like “I Found a Reason” and “Candy Says.”
American Poet: Remembering Lou Reed|Kurt Loder|October 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
I knew a doo-wop group that sings in the subway and around the city, and I wanted to get them involved.
Doo-Wop ‘We Can’t Stop’: Behind the Ridiculously Good Miley Cyrus Cover|Kevin Fallon|September 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Amy Winehouse incorporated a lot of Motown and soul and doo-wop into her stuff, an updated version of it.
Doo-Wop ‘We Can’t Stop’: Behind the Ridiculously Good Miley Cyrus Cover|Kevin Fallon|September 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

This kind of situation happened over and over again in the big-band years and later during the doo-wop era.
Scorsese's Favorite Gangster Movies|Martin Scorsese|September 8, 2010|DAILY BEAST
"Don't forget to tell him how the wop licked the Jew," broke in the prisoner.
From Place to Place|Irvin S. Cobb
I'm nothing but an ordinary day-laborer, a plain Mick, a sort of a Wop, obeying orders.
West Wind Drift|George Barr McCutcheon
They sing about what a fine mornin' it is in Wop and she tells him he'd better fly his kite before Archibald catches him.
Gullible's Travels, Etc.|Ring W. Lardner
She added, bright mischief between her long lashes, "What is it then—a Wop?"
The Innocent Adventuress|Mary Hastings Bradley
Then he smiled up at me with a look in his eyes that seemed to say, "But they haven't croaked the 'dying Wop' yet."
"And they thought we wouldn't fight"|Floyd Gibbons

British Dictionary definitions for wop (1 of 2)

wop¹

/ (wɒp) /

noun

slang, derogatory a member of a Latin people, esp an Italian

Word Origin for wop

C20: probably from southern Italian dialect guappo dandy, braggart, from Spanish guapo

British Dictionary definitions for wop (2 of 2)

wop²

/ (wɒp) /

verb, noun wops, wopping or wopped

a variant spelling of whop

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