English

Alternative forms

• (adj) white-bread, whitebread
• (ethnic slur, noun) whitebread

Noun

white bread ‎(usually uncountable, plural white breads)

1. Bread made from white flour.
   • 1933, Edith Almedingen, "White Bread for Creeds" in The Catholic World, Vol. 136

     Yes—just become a Communist, and things get all right. Deny your Christ and they will give you white bread in plenty and clothes to wear—" He would hold his breath, would wonder and question: "What is white bread? And who is Christ?"

   • 1998, Csaba Teglas, Budapest Exit, Ch. vii, p. 73

     At one time, when the commandant felt especially indebted, he sent the other officers out of his office and opened the safe. There it was, securely hidden, an entire loaf of white bread. He cut a large slice, wrapped it in newspaper and, beaming, handed this precious gift to Ildikó. "Just for you. I, as the commandant, am entitled to some white bread," he said proudly. Ildikó was touched, not by the value of the gift but by the realization of the Russians' grave poverty.

2. (US, ethnic slur, uncommon) A white person, a person of European descent, a Caucasian; a person who 'acts white'.
   • 1995, Mansfield Frazier, From Behind the Wall, 92

     ...they had become weary of being targeted for intimidation by black and Latino gangs in their multiracial neighborhood. They told stories of being taunted by racial slurs in high school, such as being called "white bread" and "cracker."

   • 2006, Michael Soltys, The Grass Is Green, 296

     Teyshawn wanted to yell whitebreads did it—**** whitebreads.

   • 2011, Kathryn Grant, The Good Counselor, Act I, Scene ii

     evelyn. **** you, white bread.

     vincent. Oh, I'm white?

     evelyn. You don't act black.

     vincent. (smiling) And yet, people still treat me like I'm black.

Usage notes

The relative sophistication of the process of producing white flour initially created positive associations with progress and wealth; more recently, white bread's longer shelf-life, relative lack of flavor, and associations with harmful bleaching chemicals have created more neutral or even negative associations.

The ethnic term is more often encountered as an adjective.

Synonyms

• (white person) See whitey

Translations

See also

• brown bread
• wholemeal bread

Adjective

white bread ‎(comparative more white bread, superlative most white bread)

1. (chiefly US, colloquial, pejorative) Bland, boring; flavorless; conventional, bourgeois.
   • 1983, Billy Joel, "Uptown Girl"

     She's been living in her white bread world

     As long as anyone with hot blood can

     And now she's looking for a downtown man.

2. (US ethnic slur) Of or relating to white people, Caucasian.
   • 1993 November 15, Eric Pooley, "Can Giuliani Pull It Together?" in New York, Vol. 26, No. 45, p. 53

     Guiliani is hedging a bit, but he's not the white-bread cop so many blacks expect him to be.

   • 2013, Mary McVee, "Interracial Friendship & Enmity between Teachers & Students: Lessons of Urban Schooling from a 'Cracker Girl'" in The Psychology of Friendship & Enmity, Vol. II, p. 212

     Bystanders shouted a racial slur, "white bread," at her.

Synonyms

• wonderbread