high yellow

noun

A black person with light skin with yellow undertones.

Similar
high yaller
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Meanings

nounhigh yellow (plural high yellows)

plural high yellows

  1. sometimes racially offensiveA black person with light skin with yellow undertones.

    Being a light-skinned girl, you get called names. You get called 'lite-brite', you get called 'high yellow', 'redbone'.

    2014 January 10, Colorism: The Secret Shame (Oprah's Lifeclass), season 5, episode 2, via OWN

    Synonyms: high yaller

adjectivehigh yellow (comparative more high yellow, superlative most high yellow)

comparative more high yellow · superlative most high yellow

  1. Of a black person, having a light skin tone.

    Now, you gonna get your little narrow, high yellow ass back into the theater and enjoy Soul Plane 2.

    2007 October 8, 12:23 from the start, in ...Or Die Trying (The Boondocks), season 2, episode 1, spoken by Granddad (John Witherspoon)

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA black person with light skin with yellow undertones.

Similar
high yaller
Also see
high yalleryellow

Origin

After the golden-yellow skin tone of some multiracial people. "High" is usually considered a reference to a social class system in which skin color (and associated ancestries) is a major factor, placing those of lighter skin (with more white ancestry) at the top and those of darker skin at the bottom.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

high yellow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/high%20yellow

MLA

“high yellow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/high%20yellow. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “high yellow,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/high%20yellow.

Source: high yellow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.