lightie

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From light +‎ -ie.

Noun[edit]

lightie (plural lighties)

  1. (South Africa, slang) Alternative form of lighty (young man; boy)
  2. (informal) A black person with relatively light-coloured skin.
    • 2016, Rick Johnson, Heirloom Plantation, page 52:
      I looked up into that giant's eyes and while I saw curiosity there, I didn't see the anger and hatred I had seen in so many eyes of the black people as they looked down on a lightie.
    • 2019, Derek Owusu, Safe: 20 Ways to be a Black Man in Britain Today:
      [] hood-famous Black men and members of their entourages, surrounded by a uniform of attractive young white women and the occasional ambiguous 'lightie.'