noun
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taboo (in southern Africa) any Black African
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offensive (among Muslims) a non-Muslim or infidel
Sensitive Note
In reference to a Black person, Kaffir was a neutral term during the colonial period, but in post-apartheid South Africa it is considered hate speech, to be avoided by using the euphemistic K-word, much like the N-word.
Usage
In South Africa the use of this word is nowadays completely taboo, and is indeed actionable in the courts. It is also advisable not to use the word in any of the compounds to which it gave rise
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Kaffir
First recorded in 1570–80; from Arabic kāfir “unbeliever, skeptic”
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.
See Examples For:
In the tasting room, adorned with vintage family photos, there are about two dozen dark-glass spritz bottles, each labeled hazelnoot, Kaffir lime, oranje-bloesem and an assortment of other fruits, nuts, herbs, flowers and spices.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2021
One of those former refugees, Hue Kim, 75, now spends her weekends selling Kaffir lime leaves, rosemary and other herbs on the sidewalk just a few feet from Ms. Nguyen’s bubble tea shop.
From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2017
Lemon grass, ginger, Kaffir lime leaves or amchur, a tart preserved Indian mango, can have similar brightening effects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2015
He’ll serve it over sticky rice topped with red-curry coconut sauce from a 10-gallon batch and a slaw of Kaffir lime leaf, zucchini, carrots and peanuts, topped with micro-cilantro leaves.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2014
The mimosa predominated, but it was intermingled with date-trees and Kaffir plums and huge cacti, with their swordlike leaves, and acacias already coming into flower.
From Perils in the Transvaal and Zululand by H.C. Adams
It is a strange coincidence and presumably only a coincidence that Story 118, ‘The Hyena outwitted’ is known in a precisely similar form among the Kaffirs of South Africa.
From Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas
Among the agricultural tribes, as, for example, the Kaffirs, they drive their cattle into the kraal, and for the young build pens.
From History of the Negro Race in America From 1619 to 1880. Vol 1 Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens by George Washington Williams
Know by this that on the fourth day of this moon we gave battle to the Kaffirs who call themselves Inglees, having with us the Chief Hussein with ten thousand of the faithful.
From The Green Flag by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The cattle had thriven and were doing well, and a large field of Indian corn had been harvested for the use of the Kaffirs.
From The Young Colonists A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars by G.A. Henty
In 1792 Moravian missions had been established for the benefit of the Hottentots,4 and in 1799 the London Missionary Society began work among both Hottentots and Kaffirs.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various
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.
