Wiktionary

nigga

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From nigger, coming from dialects of the English language which are non-rhotic.

Pronunciation

Noun

nigga (plural niggas or niggaz)

  1. (offensive, ethnic slur, vulgar, dated) Pronunciation spelling of nigger.
  2. (vulgar, slang, often offensive, but also often used affectionately in African-American Vernacular) A close and loyal friend.
    I'd never betray you, cuz you my nigga, man.
  3. (vulgar, slang, often offensive, but tolerated in African-American Vernacular) A black person (usually a male friend), especially an African American.
    As soon as I walked into the class and saw that sea of white faces, I felt alone, so I sat next to the only other nigga there.
    • 2010, Chunichi, The Return of a Gangster's Girl, page 26:
      "I mean, if you're not interested, it ain't nothing but a thang, baby girl. Just let a nigga know."
  4. (vulgar, slang, often offensive, chiefly African-American Vernacular) Any person, though chiefly male.
    White niggas do be like, this is too spicy.
    All these freshman niggas are so annoying.
    These niggas out here bein' fake.
    • 2023 August 20, Kelefa Sanneh, quoting Fatimah Nyeema Warner, “Noname’s Ambivalent, Triumphant Comeback”, in The New Yorker‎[1], →ISSN:
      “I can sit here and talk about the industrial complex all day long,” she said. “But niggas don’t look up until I say ‘Rihanna.’ Which isn’t right, to use those things. But that’s what people pay attention to.”
  5. (vulgar, slang, often offensive, but tolerated in African-American Vernacular) A male as opposed to a female.
    • 2003, “If I Can't”, in Curtis Jackson (lyrics), Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo (music), Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent, New York City: Shady Records:
      Niggas on my dick more than my bitches.
    • 2005, “Ryder Music”, in Curtis Jackson (lyrics), Tony Cottrell (music), The Massacre, performed by 50 Cent, New York City: Shady Records:
      I read somewhere I'm homophobic. Shit, go through the hood. There's mad niggas on my dick.
    • 2024, Odawg, 3 SIGNS A PARTY IS ABOUT TO GET SHOT UP!‎[2] (YouTube):
      Now if you go to a party, and it's straight niggas, then I say a good 7 times out of 10, it's bouta get LIT UP! Like bro, dudes don't go to parties for other dudes. Nobody wants to pull up to a sausage fest. Like nothing is worse than pulling up to a party that was promoted to have hella joints there, for there to be no females there!

Usage notes

  • There have been efforts by those of African descent to reclaim the word nigger, especially in this form (nigga, and its variants such as niggah), but these efforts are controversial, and some people do not believe it is able to be reclaimed, due to its fraught history and continued derogatory usage. Usage by non-black people is usually considered highly offensive. For more, see nigger.
  • This word cannot be distinguished from nigger in non-rhotic accent varieties, such as most British English accents.
  • Several variant spellings of this word have been in use for a long time, including niggah and nigguh, which were long only pluralized with -s (niggahs, etc.) but are now often (informally) also pluralized with the eye dialect ending -z (niggahz). More recently, spellings like nikka and nikkah have also come into use in informal dialogue and hip-hop. Sometimes, especially in period writing from before the mid-20th century, nigguh is specifically pronunciation spelling for a white Southern realization of nigger, and nigga(h) is pronunciation spelling for an African-American realization. Numerous other variations are used for lyrical purposes, such as Snoop Dogg's "fo shizzle my nizzle" ("for sure, my nigga.")

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams

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