Meanings
- Any of several varieties of English spoken by or associated with Black people, especially people of African origin or in Africa.
Sranan-Tongo is a New World Black language form produced by the same processes that gave rise to Afro-American and Afro-Caribbean Black English.
1977, David Ola Oke, “The genesis of New World Black English”, in Caribbean Quarterly, volume 23, page 651 more example
There is little doubt that an African variety of English is very much part of the communicative economy of the new South Africa (for which I shall use the conventional label South African Black English, in short SABE).
1997, Rajend Mesthrie, “A sociolinguistic study of topicalisation phenomena in South African Black English”, in Manfred Görlach, Edgar W. Schneider, editors, Englishes Around the World, volume 2, page 119- USSynonym of African-American English (“AAE”), sometimes specifically African-American Vernacular English (“AAVE”).
Perhaps Black English will yield a new neutral term for wokeness.
2021 November 16, John McWhorter, “‘Woke’ Went the Way of ‘P.C.’ and ‘Liberal’”, in The New York Times, →ISSNSynonyms: African-American English
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounSynonym of African-American English (“AAE”), sometimes specifically African-American Vernacular English (“AAVE”).
proper nounSynonym of Multicultural London English (“MLE”).
proper nounSynonym of Greater Toronto English (“MTE”).
More synonyms by meaning
nouna nonstandard form of American English characteristically spoken by African Americans in the United States
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
Black English. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Black%20English
“Black English.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Black%20English. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Black English,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Black%20English.
Source: Black English on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.