What does "coon" mean?
A black person.
Coon
/kun/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A black person.
- Grammar: coon is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: animal, antelope, ape, armadillo.
- Useful contrasts: approval, compliment, praise.
- Usage evidence: And that one looks Jewish, and that one's a coon! Who let all this riff-raff into the room?
How to use "coon"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "coon" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "coon" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "coon" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "coon" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "coon" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "animal" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "coon", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A black person. derogatory, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur
"And that one looks Jewish, and that one's a coon! Who let all this riff-raff into the room?"
- 2 North American raccoon wordnet
- 3 A raccoon. Southern-US, informal
"1865, Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod, Chapter IX. "The Sea and the Desert", page 187. He also said that minks, muskrats, foxes, coons, and wild mice were found there, but no squirrels."
- 4 an eccentric or undignified rustic wordnet
- 5 a black race traitor. derogatory, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 A member of a colorfully dressed dance troupe in Cape Town during New Year celebrations. South-Africa, informal
- 7 A coonass; a white Acadian French person who lives in the swamps. Southern-US, ethnic, slur
- 8 A sly fellow. US, dated
- 9 A black person who "plays the coon"; that is, who plays the dated stereotype of a black fool for an audience, particularly including Caucasians.
"This is especially true when your audience has such high expectations of your playing the coon, and thus providing symbolic assurance that a darker people are contained in their assigned social "place" as "subpersons.""
Verb
- 1 To hunt raccoons. Southern-US, colloquial
- 2 To traverse by crawling, as a ledge.
- 3 To crawl while straddling, especially in crossing a creek. Southern-US, colloquial
"There is a little ledge low on the face of the cliff, and by this with careful “cooning” one may reach a recession in the rock which makes a lovely arm chair."
- 4 To fish by noodling, by feeling for large fish in underwater holes. Georgia, colloquial
- 5 To play the dated stereotype of a black fool for an audience, particularly including Caucasians.
"Rather than cooning or tomming it up to please whites...the black comic characters joked or laughed or acted the fool with one another. Or sometimes they used humor combatively to outwit the white characters."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To steal. Southern-US, colloquial, dated
"Cooning water-melons [sic.] was a common custom, and young people would go out at night on such parties. To prevent any raids on our melon patch Grandfather set a trap alarm—which brought disaster."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
Example
"And that one looks Jewish, and that one's a coon! Who let all this riff-raff into the room?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "coon"?
Common synonyms include: animal, antelope, ape, armadillo, bat, bear.
How do you use "coon" in a sentence?
And that one looks Jewish, and that one's a coon! Who let all this riff-raff into the room?
How do you pronounce "coon"?
Pronounced /kun/.
Etymology
Clipping of raccoon.