Meanings
- offensiveA Chinese man; the Chinese people generally.
John Chinaman is playing the devil with us shipmasters of the English nation.
1840 March 25, The Colonist, Sydney, page 2, column 12 more examples
The simple cup of tea, and frugal meal of rice and salt fish, are the principal factors to " John Chinaman's " success wherever he goes.
1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 234My head was full of stories about John Chinaman: opium, slavery, how they ate the hands of Christian babies.
1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 193Synonyms: Johnny Chinaman
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA Chinese man; the Chinese people generally.
Cite this entry
John Chinaman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/John%20Chinaman
“John Chinaman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/John%20Chinaman. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “John Chinaman,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/John%20Chinaman.
Source: John Chinaman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.