yellow peril
noun Disparaging and Offensive.
(in historical contexts) the alleged danger that predominantly white Western civilizations and populations could be overwhelmed by Asian peoples.
the Asian peoples regarded as presenting such a danger.
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Also called yellow terror .
Origin of yellow peril
First recorded in 1895–1900
usage note for yellow peril
See yellow.
Words nearby yellow peril
Yellow Newtown, Yellow No. 5, yellow pad, yellow pages, yellow perch, yellow peril, yellow pikeperch, yellow pine, yellow poplar, yellow puccoon, yellow rain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for yellow peril
Brzezinski is by no means an alarmist of the “yellow-peril” strain in American history.
Does America Still Matter? Zbigniew Brzezinski’s ‘Strategic Vision’|Harold Evans|July 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
British Dictionary definitions for yellow peril
yellow peril
noun
the power or alleged power of Asiatic peoples, esp the Chinese, to threaten or destroy the supremacy of White or Western civilization
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
Cultural definitions for yellow peril
Yellow Peril
A supposed threat to the United States posed by Japan and China. The phrase arose in the late nineteenth century, at a time when Japanese and Chinese immigration to America was meeting resistance and when Japan was growing as a military power. (See internment of Japanese Americans.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.