ecky-becky

noun

A poor white person. Specifically, a lower-class descendant of the whites who worked the land before the arrival of African slaves.

OriginBajan ecky-becky →
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Meanings

nounecky-becky (plural ecky-beckies)

plural ecky-beckies

  1. BarbadosderogatoryslangA poor white person. Specifically, a lower-class descendant of the whites who worked the land before the arrival of African slaves.

Origin

  1. Bajanecky-becky
  2. Englishecky-becky

Borrowed from Bajan ecky-becky. According to Bajan lore, the word ecky-becky is of African origin and can be traced back to a time before Africans came to Barbados. In one Igbo community in West Africa a French man allegedly named Equé Bequé, or something similar, attempted to settle there and colonize the village, but failed, as he had no money or army. From then on, the Igbo people called any poor Caucasian "Ecky-becky." This word would later be taken by these people to Barbados when they were captured along with other African tribes and brought into slavery.

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Cite this entry
APA

ecky-becky. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ecky-becky

MLA

“ecky-becky.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ecky-becky. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ecky-becky,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ecky-becky.

Source: ecky-becky on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.