noun · rare

yellow peril

yellow peril · yellow perils

The alleged threat to Western nations by East Asians, especially Chinese or Japanese…The alleged threat to Western nations by East Asians, especially Chinese or Japanese people, due to their vast population, non-Western cultures, or supposed antagonism to the West.

» Generations of Americans were taught to fear—miscegenation, "the yellow peril," Italians, communism.

Generationen von Amerikaner lehrte man zu fürchten - Rassenmischung, "die gelbe Gefahr", Italiener, Kommunismus.

Навчання поколінь американців було - боятися: змішення рас, "жовтої загибелі", італійців, комунізму.

Meaning

2 senses

(derogatory, historical, offensive)The alleged threat to Western nations by East Asians, especially Chinese or Japanese people, due to their vast population, non-Western cultures, or supposed antagonism to the West.
gelbe Gefahr
жёлтая угро́заžóltaja ugróza, жёлтая опа́сностьžóltaja opásnostʹ
жовта небезпекаžovta nebezpeka, жовта загрозаžovta zahroza
(derogatory, historical, offensive)East Asian nations or peoples, conceived as threatening.

More definitions

the threat to Western civilization said to arise from the power of Asiatic peoples

Examples

2 sentences

Generations of Americans were taught to fear—miscegenation, "the yellow peril," Italians, communism.
Навчання поколінь американців було - боятися: змішення рас, "жовтої загибелі", італійців, комунізму. — shanghainese
deGenerationen von Amerikaner lehrte man zu fürchten - Rassenmischung, "die gelbe Gefahr", Italiener, Kommunismus. — faehrmann
CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · halfb1t · C2Open on Tatoeba Report a problem
"Marko, what's the Yellow Peril?" "Dennis, it's xenophobia!"
CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · nonong · C1Open on Tatoeba Report a problem

Translations

5 languages

Українська

perceived threat from East Asia:

Русский

perceived threat from East Asia:

Deutsch

perceived threat from East Asia:

Origin

Of yellow + peril, modeled on earlier French péril jaune. Compare yellow as a racist term

Of yellow + peril, modeled on earlier French péril jaune. Compare yellow as a racist term for East Asian people. Attested in English from the 1890s. The French cognate is attested from the 1880s.

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