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Whiteface vs Blackface - What's the difference?

whiteface | blackface |

As nouns the difference between whiteface and blackface

is that whiteface is makeup that makes the face appear white while blackface is a style of theatrical makeup in which a white person blackens their face in order to portray a negro.

whiteface

English

Noun

  • (uncountable) Makeup that makes the face appear white.
    • Whiteface is sometimes worn by clowns and mimes, or in the Gothic subculture.
  • (countable) Any bird of the genus Aphelocephala .
  • A Hereford cow.
  • (countable, slang) A person of European descent.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2007, date=December 10, author=Janet Maslin, title=Cops Wife Spiraling Out of Control in Chicago, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=Craig has gotten himself entree into a dangerous Chinatown card game, where he is playing the role of the malleable whiteface , the unlucky Irishman known as Mickey in order to infiltrate the drug-dealing operations of Asian gang members. }}

    Synonyms

    * (European) paleface

    Usage notes

    The "white person" sense is rarely used directly; instead, it is found chiefly in reported or fictional speech, where it is ascribed to non-white characters, often as a way of establishing them as primitives.

    blackface

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia blackface) (-)
  • A style of theatrical makeup in which a white person blackens their face in order to portray a negro.

    • See also

    * blackfaced * redface * yellowface