nonwhite

[non-wahyt, -hwahyt]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

of or relating to a person or people who are not members of the sociocultural classification marked by slight pigmentation of the skin and associated with European descent.
Both immigration and births contributed to nonwhite population growth in the most recent census.

noun

a person who is not a member of the sociocultural classification marked by slight pigmentation of the skin and associated with European descent; a person of color.

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Sensitive Note

Use of the word nonwhite to describe a population group has sometimes been criticized for implying in its very structure that “white” is the norm and anything else is a deviation from that norm. A more affirmative descriptive term, like person(s) of color, is often appropriate, as are other specific ethnic, cultural, or national designations. However, nonwhite is still in common use, especially in contexts where the focus is on statistical analyses of populations of European ancestry as distinguished from other populations. It is generally more acceptable as an adjective (strategies to get nonwhite voters to the polls) than as a noun (a candidate favored by nonwhites; the candidate who is a nonwhite ).

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Word History and Origins

Origin of nonwhite¹

First recorded in 1920–25; non- + white

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Before the firings, the Education Department’s staff was majority nonwhite, with Black women making up about 28% of workers, the most recent federal data shows.

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Nearly 80% of potential case plaintiffs are nonwhite, she said; most of that cohort are Black women.

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Lawyers and former employees say focusing on people who may have had some DEI training or job duties would cause greater harm to nonwhite employees.

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They historically controlled South Africa’s major institutions until the 1990s, when the African National Congress pursued land reform to compensate nonwhite South Africans who had been kicked off their land under the apartheid regime.

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It wasn't easy to imagine Miller giving up his lifelong mission of expelling as many nonwhite people from America as possible, and in this administration that's a full time job.

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nonvoting non-White

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