Meanings
present singular third person racebends · participle present racebending · participle past racebent · past racebent
- intransitiveTo play the role of, or cast someone in the role of, a character of a different race or ethnicity.
Similar to [Denzel] Washington racebending to become Julius Caesar for an official production, […]
2015, Kristen J. Warner, “ABC's Scandal and Black Women's Fandom”, in Elana Levine, editor, Cupcakes, Pinterest, and Ladyporn: Feminized Popular Culture in the Early Twenty-First Century, University of Illinois, →ISBN, page 392 more examples
Hollywood does not just innocently “racebend” a few characters for the sake of hiring the best actors.
2014, Anna Lee, "Persons of color need representation in Hollywood", The Falconer (The Torrey Pines High School, San Diego, California), Volume 40, Issue 2, 26 September 2014, page A7[…] in which white Jake Gyllenhaal and Emma Stone, respectively – 'racebend' and play characters of Asian descent.
2015, Adolfo Aranjuez, "Power from a Different Perspective: Race, Gender and Grief in Big Hero 6", Screen Education, Number 79, Spring 2015, page 11
Origin
From race + bend, after the pattern of genderbend.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
racebend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/racebend
“racebend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/racebend. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “racebend,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/racebend.
Source: racebend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.