wog
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wog¹
- /wɒɡ/ UK
- /wɔɡ/ US
- /wɑɡ/ cot caught merger
Rhymes with -ɒɡ
Where it comes from
The origins are not entirely clear. The term was first noted by the lexicographer F.C. Bowen in 1929, in his Sea Slang: a dictionary of the old-timers’ expressions and epithets, where he defines wogs as "lower class Babu shipping clerks on the Indian coast."
The most common theory is that it is a clipping of golliwog, which was first used as the name of a black-faced doll in Florence Upton’s 1895 book The Adventures of Two Dutch Dolls and a Golliwogg. A variety of folk etymologies exist, with the most common claiming that the word is an acronym for one of either westernized, worthy, wily, or wonderful preceding “Oriental gentlemen”. Another erroneous claim is that it was used in the mid 1800s, with WOGS (meaning Working On Government Service) stencilled on the shirts of Indian workers in Egypt.
The Scientologist sense is from the usage of L. Ron Hubbard, who apparently accepted the folk etymology from “worthy Oriental gentleman” but employed the term to mean “common ordinary run-of-the-mill garden-variety humanoid”.
noun wogs
- A non-white person, especially one of South Asian, Middle Eastern, or African descent. 'One of the little Indian girls whose name is Polly has just come in to ask, " Miss D., what is a wog? One white boy called me a polliwog, and I thought a wog must be something bad."'
-
Someone of Mediterranean descent, such as an Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Lebanese, Greek, or Maltese person.
'Every fucking aussie. Go to Cronulla Beach Sunday for some Leb and wog bashing Aussie Pride ok.'
Similar: wop, dago, Eyetie, goombah, greaseball, guido, guinea
- A person who is not a Scientologist. So yes, they do keep records, but no they are not 'accurate' in the wog world meaning of the word.
verb wogs · wogging · wogged
- To sell something, especially illicit or stolen goods, to the local inhabitants.
- To steal.
wog²
- /wɒɡ/ UK
- /wɔɡ/ US
- /wɑɡ/ cot caught merger
Rhymes with -ɒɡ
Where it comes from
Clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”).
noun wogs
- Clipping of polliwog
- A pollywog, or sailor who has never crossed the Equator.
wog³
- /wɒɡ/ UK
- /wɔɡ/ US
- /wɑɡ/ cot caught merger
Rhymes with -ɒɡ
Where it comes from
Unknown. Probably from Etymology 2, a clipping of polliwog (“a tadpole”).
noun wogs
- A bug, an insect.
- A minor illness caused by bacteria, virus, intestinal parasite, etc.
- A toy insect in parts that can be assembled, used in fund-raising games.
WOG⁴
proper noun WOGs
- Abbreviation of Winter Olympic Games
noun
- Initialism of water-oil-gas, typically marked on valves that are acceptable for use with these fluids.
Wog⁵
proper noun Wogs
- A surname.
WoG⁶
adjective more WoG · most WoG
- Abbreviation of whole-of-government
Translations
Every language
noun an offensive term for a dark-skinned person
| Français | bougnoule |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Kanake, Ölauge |
| Русский | хач xač, чу́рка čúrka, чурба́н čurbán, чучме́к čučmék, чернома́зый černomázyj, черножо́пый černožópyj |
Talk about this word "wog." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wog. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. wog. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wog "wog." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wog.Cite this
@misc{wog_2026,
title = {wog},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wog},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
