lily-whiteadj.
/ˌlɪlɪˈwʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈlɪliˌ(h)waɪt/ 1.
a. White as a lily.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > [adjective] > pure white > as lily
lily-whitea1350
lily15..
lily-whiteda1560
lily-like1652
lily-colouredc1866
a1350 in G. L. Brook Harley Lyrics (1968) 34 Lylie-whyt hue is..þat reueþ me mi rest.
a1400 Pistill of Susan 16 Heo was..Loueliche & lilie whit.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 977 Loth & þo luly-whit his lefly two deȝter.
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid i. Prol. 453 In loifing of thir ladyis lilly quhyte.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. iii. sig. P2 A silken Camus lylly whight.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. i. ii. 60 Cherry Cheeks, small Lily-white Hands. View more context for this quotation
1818 Cobbett's Weekly Polit. Reg. 33 280 As to despotism, your lily-white hands must never touch it.
1820 W. Scott Abbot I. vii. 161 With..ten lily-white groats in his pouch.
b. as n. (a) Lily-white colour. †(b) Old Cant. A chimney-sweep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > cleaning house > [noun] > cleaning chimneys > one who
chimney-sweeper?1518
sweep-chimney1657
lily-white1699
chimney-sweep1709
sooterkin1795
sweepy1798
sweep1812
ramoneura1859
chummy1860
chimney-cleanser1905
chimney-cleaner1906
fluonomist1946
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > [noun] > pure whiteness > as lily
lily-white1699
lily-whiteness1885
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Lilly-white, a Chimney-sweeper.
1713 Eng. Gratitude 7 See how my Flowers are..dy'd in Lilly-white or Rosy-red.
2.
a. In favour of, committed to, or pertaining to a policy of racial segregation. Originally U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social attitudes > racial attitudes > [adjective] > racist > relating to policy of racial segregation
lily-white1903
1903 N.Y. Times 23 Sept. 1/2 The report that the President was seeking reconciliation with..the ‘Lilywhite’, faction, which eliminated the negro from the last State Convention.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 2/2 That..is what they call the lily-white policy!.. It is the unprincipled white politician who finds anti-negro agitation a popular plank in his platform.
1953 Manch. Guardian Weekly 8 Oct. 5/1 Before 1948 groups of landlords had managed to maintain ‘lily-white’ communities by signing ‘restrictive covenants’.
1968 Morning Star 10 Aug. 1/1 While the lilywhite Republican convention was nominating Richard Nixon in an atmosphere of ballyhoo and frenzied hysteria, the same city of Miami saw Negroes demonstrating for their rights.
b. Irreproachable, lacking faults or imperfections.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > virtue > absence of moral flaw > [adjective]
holyc1200
lackless1377
faultlessc1400
lily-white1961
squeaky clean1975
1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1970 New Yorker 9 May 33/3 I think the city should be lily-white on this, so the first thing I'm going to try to do is convert all our city vehicles to low-pollution engines.
1973 Times 18 Jan. 2/7 Robert Mark [the commissioner] is determined to have a lily-white police force. He will have a lily-white police force looking pretty in the street.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > [adjective] > pure white > as lily
lily-whitea1350
lily15..
lily-whiteda1560
lily-like1652
lily-colouredc1866
a1560 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Nyne Fyrst Bks. Eneidos (1562) ix. sig. Eeiij Some lylywhyted swan.
lily-whiteness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > white or whiteness > [noun] > pure whiteness > as lily
lily-white1699
lily-whiteness1885
1885 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche ii. xxiii. 23 Psyche, all in lily-whiteness veiled.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.a1350