Meanings
- USsarcasticuncountableA fictitious criminal offense, said to be committed when a traffic stop is motivated by a police officer's racial bias against a black motorist, rather than any actual violation of law.
I was pulled over for driving while black yesterday. That idiot cop spent 20 minutes asking me a bunch of crap.
1 more example
jill We [Jill and her husband James] call it, "Driving While Black." We have a . . . nice car. So we got pulled over for a DWB. . . .
[1995, Paul C. Rosenblatt, Terri A. Karis, Richard D. Powell, Multiracial Couples: Black and White Voices (Understanding Families), SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 147Synonyms: DWB
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA fictitious criminal offense, said to be committed when a traffic stop is motivated by a police officer's racial bias against a black motorist, rather than any actual violation of law.
Origin
A jocular play on driving while intoxicated.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
driving while black. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/driving%20while%20black
“driving while black.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/driving%20while%20black. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “driving while black,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/driving%20while%20black.
Source: driving while black on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.