noun
spook
An offensive slur for a Black person.
The editor identified spook as an offensive racial slur in the historical dialogue.
Etymology
The ordinary word originally meant ghost. Its later American use as an anti-Black slur is a derogatory racial application with no neutral descriptive force.
More examples
- She challenged the character's use of spook toward a Black neighbor.
- The annotation explains why spook is derogatory in that passage.
- The memoir recounts being targeted with the slur spook.
Forms
spook