Meaning of Gypsy | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A member of the Romani people, or one of the sub-groups (Roma, Sinti, Romanichal, etc).
   offensive, sometimes
2. The language Romani.
   offensive, rare, sometimes
3. A member of other nomadic peoples, not only of the Romani people; a traveller. Alternative spelling of gypsy
4. A female given name.
5. An itinerant person or any person, not necessarily Romani; a tinker, a traveller or a carny.
   colloquial
6. A move in contra dancing in which two dancers walk in a circle around each other while maintaining eye contact (but not touching as in a swing). (Compare whole gyp, half gyp, and gypsy meltdown, in which this step precedes a swing.)
   offensive, sometimes
7. A member of a Broadway musical chorus line.
8. A person with a dark complexion.
   dated
9. A sly, roguish woman.
   dated
10. A fortune teller.
    colloquial, dated
11. A whitewashed South Asian.
    offensive, sometimes

Equivalents

Examples

“He championed the music of the gypsies as he did the Muslim and Jewish roots of Spanish culture. […] All these and more were fused in the forge of the gypsy experience into a singular art form, unlike any of its sources, evoking its own worldview, its own existential stance.”

“Like a right gypsy, hath, at fast and loose, Beguiled me to the very heart of loss.”

“"Why, good afternoon, Miss Gypsy," said Sir Simms; "I'm surprised to see you such a warm day — very much surprised. But you always were a remarkable young lady ..."”

CEFR level