Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Of a pure white color: Describes something that is perfectly, brilliantly, or immaculately white, often compared to the color of a lily flower.
   • Exclusively white; excluding non-white people: Historically used to describe organizations, policies, or movements that were restricted to white people only, often explicitly excluding Black people or other racial groups.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective (Color):

  • She wore a lily-white dress to the ceremony.
  • The snow was a beautiful, lily-white blanket covering the fields.

• Adjective (Racial Exclusion):

  • In the past, some country clubs were lily-white institutions.
  • The union was accused of being lily-white and refusing to admit minority workers.

Advanced Usage

• "lily-white" (figurative, for purity or innocence): Used metaphorically to imply moral purity, innocence, or being untainted.
  • His reputation was not exactly lily-white after the scandal. (Implies his reputation was not completely pure or innocent.)
• "lily-white" (figurative, for exclusivity): Can be used more broadly to describe any group or situation that is exclusively one type, often implying a lack of diversity.
  • The board of directors remains a lily-white, male-dominated group.

Variants and Related Words

• Lily-whiteness (noun, rare): The state or quality of being lily-white, either in color or in racial exclusivity.
• Snow-white (adjective): A similar term for a pure white color, but without the historical racial connotation.

Synonyms

• Pure white (for color).
• Alabaster (for a smooth, white appearance).
• Segregated (for the racial meaning).
• Exclusive (for the racial meaning).

Idioms and Phrases

• "As lily-white as...": A simile used for emphasis.
  • Her gloves were as lily-white as freshly fallen snow.
• "To keep something lily-white": To maintain something as pure, untarnished, or exclusive.
  • They tried to keep the neighborhood lily-white through restrictive covenants.

Adjective

1. of a pure white color
2. restricted to whites only
   • under segregation there were even white restrooms and white drinking fountains
   • a lily-white movement which would expel Negroes from the organization