Wetback

//ˈwɛtbæk//

Synonyms for "wetback" (39 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

6 relation types

More general

1 entries

Synonyms

1 entries

Related terms

2 entries

derived

1 entries

has context

2 entries

related to

6 entries

Translations

2 translations across 1 languages.

Powered by Wiktionary

Spanish

2 entries
  • espalda mojada noun (Mexican or Central American who illegally enters the United States)
  • mojado noun (Mexican or Central American who illegally enters the United States)

Sample sentences

4 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

1920, Temporary admission of illiterate Mexican laborers: Hearings before the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, 66th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 141, Mr. HUDSPETH. […] I stood here and did all in my power to keep the “wetback” […] from coming across. And I stand here to-day asking for that. The CHAIRMAN. […] What is a “wetback”? Mr. HUDSPETH. You have heard a “wetback” described; he is a fellow that crosses the river surreptitiously.

Source: wiktionary

The charges against the U.S. had cited cases of peonage and labor under forced contracts in Maine, Connecticut, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia and California. They had revealed that thousands of “wetbacks” (i.e., Mexican laborers who wade the Rio Grande in search of work in the U.S.) lived in squalor and poverty, sometimes were paid as little as $8 a week.

Source: wiktionary

He went through a couple of bottles of wine and made a speech denouncing wetbacks and Asian immigrants.

Source: wiktionary

A successful wetback, the limo driver was thinking—that was his assessment of his Mexican-American passenger.

Source: wiktionary

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.