Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Nearby Words

uncle tom

 - 3 dictionary results
Tom's Cabin at Amazon
Millions of titles, new & used. Qualified orders over $25 ship free
Amazon.com/books

Uncle Tom

 
Use uncle tom in a Sentence
–noun Disparaging and Offensive.
a black man considered by other blacks to be subservient to or to curry favor with whites.
Compare Aunt Jemima.

Origin:
1920–25, Americanism; so called after the leading character in Uncle Tom's Cabin

Related forms:
Uncle Tomish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To uncle tom
Tom's Cabin at Amazon
Millions of titles, new & used. Qualified orders over $25 ship free
Amazon.com/books
Uncle Tom   (tŏm)   
n.   Offensive
A Black person who is regarded as being humiliatingly subservient or deferential to white people.

[After Uncle Tom, a character in Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

Uncle Tom 
"servile black man," 1922, somewhat inaccurately in ref. to the humble, pious, but strong-willed main character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852). As a verb, attested from 1937.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see uncle tom on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way