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whitewash

white·wash/ˈʍaɪtˌwɑʃ/noun, verb

whitewash is spelled W-H-I-T-E-W-A-S-H: 9 letters and 2 syllables (white·wash). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, whitewash means “A mixture of a powdered mineral substance (often slaked lime (containing calcium hydroxide), chalk (calcium carbonate), or both) and water which is…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of whitewash is whitewashes.

How many letters and syllables are in whitewash?

Letters9: W-H-I-T-E-W-A-S-H
Syllables2: white·wash
In writingabout once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 whitewash?

Whitewash appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th 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 whitewash?

  • /ˈwaɪtwɒʃ/
  • US /ˈʍaɪtˌwɑʃ/
  • US /ˈʍɐɪt-/

Whitewash has 2 syllables, split white·wash in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-whitewash.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of whitewash

  • whitewashes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • whitewashing participle, present
  • whitewashed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does whitewash mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A mixture of a powdered mineral substance (often slaked lime (containing calcium hydroxide), chalk (calcium carbonate), or both) and water which is used for painting surfaces such as fences and walls bright white.

    Near-synonym: limewash (often coinstantial)

  2. 2

    A thing used to hide mistakes, or to create an appearance of honesty, propriety, etc.; also (often politics), an act of hiding mistakes or creating an appearance of honesty, propriety, etc.; especially, a campaign, investigation, etc., which intentionally hides or overlooks unfavourable facts.

  3. 3

    An act of clearing a person's debts, especially through a declaration of bankruptcy by a court.

  4. 4

    A complete victory or series of victories without suffering any losses; a clean sweep; also, a victory or series of victories by a very large margin.

  5. 5

    The most basic type of thickening agent, consisting of flour blended with water to make a paste.

  6. 6

    A preparation for making the skin look lighter.

  7. 7

    obsoleteAny of several medicinal preparations for treating skin diseases consisting of a mixture of a metallic compound (such as one of lead, sulfur, or zinc) and water.

  8. 8

    obsoleteslangWhite wine, especially Madeira or sherry, drunk after dinner or after taking claret and port; (countable) a glass of such wine.

verb

  1. 1

    To paint (a building, a wall, etc.) a bright white with whitewash.

    Near-synonym: limewash (often coinstantial)

  2. 2

    derogatoryTo distort or give a misleading account of (history, a narrative, etc.) by discounting the participation of people of colour and focusing on white people.

  3. 3

    derogatoryTo cast a white actor in a role for a person of colour in (a film, television programme, etc.).

  4. 4

    derogatoryTo make over (someone of colour) so that they appear more white, for example, by applying lightening makeup to their skin or digitally manipulating an image of them.

  5. 5

    To cover or coat (something) with a white substance, as if with whitewash (noun sense 1); also, to light up (something) with white light.

  6. 6

    To clear (someone's) debts, especially through a declaration of bankruptcy by a court; also, to clear or write off (a debt).

  7. 7

    To hide (someone's) mistakes, or to create an appearance of honesty, propriety, etc., for (someone); also, to intentionally hide or overlook (mistakes, unfavourable facts, wrongdoing, etc.).

    In his sermon, the minister didn’t try to whitewash over the sins of his church.

  8. 8

    informalTo achieve a complete victory or series of victories over (an opponent) without suffering any losses; also, to achieve a victory or series of victories over (an opponent) by a very large margin.

    Australia whitewashed the West Indies 3–0.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Whitewash in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbadigeon, lait de chaux (mixture of a powdered mineral substance and…), blanchir (act of hiding mistakes or creating an…), badigeonner ((transitive) to paint (a building, a wall…)
GermanTünche (mixture of a powdered mineral substance and…), reinwaschen, schönfärben (act of hiding mistakes or creating an…), etwas weiß anstreichen, weißen ((transitive) to paint (a building, a wall…), Zu-null-Sieg (complete victory or series of victories without…)
Portuguesecal (mixture of a powdered mineral substance and…), branquear (act of hiding mistakes or creating an…), caiar ((transitive) to paint (a building, a wall…), encobrir ((transitive) to hide (someone’s) mistakes, or…)
Spanishlechada (mixture of a powdered mineral substance and…), blanqueado, blanquear (act of hiding mistakes or creating an…), encalar ((transitive) to paint (a building, a wall…), encubrir ((transitive) to hide (someone’s) mistakes, or…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does whitewash come from?

The noun is derived from white (adjective) + wash (noun). Noun sense 5.1 (“medicinal preparation for treating skin diseases”) is a calque of New Latin lōtiō alba (literally “white wash”). The verb is derived partly from white (adjective) + wash (verb), and partly from the noun.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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