Meanings
plural greaseballs
- USderogatoryethnicslangslurAny person of Mediterranean (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek) or Hispanic (Latin American) descent.
Do you think I wanted to walk across that stage and get my diploma and look down and see that fat greaseball sitting there? […] I got into a fraternity, too. It wasn’t one of the good ones, not with a name like Pinzetti, but a fraternity all the same.
1982, Stephen King, Survivor Type - slangA mechanic.
- slangA rocker or metalhead, especially one who listens to 1950s rock and roll or 1980s thrash metal.
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Italian descent
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latincrassus
- Vulgar Latin*crassia
- Anglo-Normangrece
- Middle Englishgrece
- Englishgrease
- Englishgreaseball
From grease + -ball.; possibly derived from the fact that Italians and Italian-Americans are stereotyped as having greasy or greased-up hair.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
greaseball. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greaseball
“greaseball.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greaseball. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “greaseball,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greaseball.
Source: greaseball on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.