spic
spic Lexical Profile
• noun
North American (offensive, ethnic slur) A contemptuous term used to refer to a person of Hispanic or Latin American descent, or a native speaker of Spanish.
"The historical novel depicted the harsh discrimination and ethnic slurs faced by immigrants in the early twentieth century."
Word Nuance & Usage
This word is an extremely offensive ethnic slur used to disparage Hispanic or Latino people and should be strictly avoided in standard speech and writing. It should not be confused with the unrelated word 'spick', which appears in the idiom 'spick-and-span' meaning neat and clean.
• Rhymes for spic
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in early 20th-century American slang (often originally spelled 'spig' or 'spiggoty'), the term likely originated as a phonetic imitation of a Spanish speaker's accented pronunciation of the phrase 'no speak English'.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.