brownface
/ˈbɹaʊnˌfeɪs/noun
brownface is spelled B-R-O-W-N-F-A-C-E: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 43 million words in written English, the 201,693rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, brownface means “A style of theatrical makeup in which a white person colours the face brown in order to represent somebody of another race” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in brownface?
| Letters | 9: B-R-O-W-N-F-A-C-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 43 million words; the 201,693rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is brownface?
Brownface appears about once in every 43 million words in written English, the 201,693rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce brownface?
- /ˈbɹaʊnˌfeɪs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brownface mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A style of theatrical makeup in which a white person colours the face brown in order to represent somebody of another race.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does brownface come from?
From brown + face, based on earlier blackface.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).