Meanings
present singular third person sweats like a nigger on election day · participle present sweating like a nigger on election day · participle past sweated like a nigger on election day · past sweated like a nigger on election day
- ethnicoffensiveslurSynonym of sweat like a nigger (“to sweat very profusely”).
It was hot and I was sweating like a nigger on election day.
1968, Black World/Negro Digest, volume 17, number 10, page 661 more example
“I swear, Katherine, I'm sweating like a nigger on Election Day. Can't we crank up the AC in here?”
2004, Al Franken, Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them)Synonyms: sweat like a nigger
Synonyms & antonyms
verbSynonym of sweat like a nigger (“to sweat very profusely”).
Origin
The "election day" part of this phrase mocked extreme fear African Americans experienced when trying to vote in Jim Crow-era Southern states, due to the threat of assault from white supremacist militants.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
sweat like a nigger on election day. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sweat%20like%20a%20nigger%20on%20election%20day
“sweat like a nigger on election day.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sweat%20like%20a%20nigger%20on%20election%20day. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sweat like a nigger on election day,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sweat%20like%20a%20nigger%20on%20election%20day.
Source: sweat like a nigger on election day on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.