Meanings
ebonics1
- uncountableAlternative letter-case form of Ebonics.
But with exotic dancers, binge-drinking, tooth-ripping, show tunes, time travel, ebonics and murder, it's an approach not usually seen onstage.
2009 January 29, Momoko Price, “Getting angry is better than getting even”, in Toronto Star
Ebonics2
alternative ebonics
- uncountableAfrican-American Vernacular English (AAVE).
1 more example
Buried among the jargon of the announcement was a mention of a name for AAVE, suggested by a Black scholar in 1975^([sic]) but never adopted by linguists: Ebonics. That word, concocted from ebony (a color term from the name of a dark-colored wood) and phonics (the name of a method for teaching reading), was destined to attach to the board as if chiseled into a block of granite and hung round their necks.
1999, Geoffrey K. Pullum, “African American Vernacular English Is Not Standard English with Mistakes”, in Rebecca S. Wheeler, editor, The Workings of Language, →ISBN, page 40
Synonyms & antonyms
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.
Origin
Blend of ebony + phonics. Coined by scholars at the Cognitive and Language Development of the Black Child conference in 1973 led by Robert L. Williams and published in his book Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks (1975). Considered outdated by some.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with ebonics
Cite this entry
ebonics. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ebonics
“ebonics.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ebonics. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ebonics,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ebonics.
Source: ebonics on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.