coon
coon
Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
kun
Syllable 1: coon
k: The voiceless velar plosive, like the 'c' in "cat."
u: The long 'oo' vowel sound, as in "goose" or "blue."
n: The voiced alveolar nasal, like the 'n' in "nice."
Word Form Variations
Singular: coon
Plural: coons
Singular Possessive: coon's
Plural Possessive: coons'
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Warning: This word has a dual meaning. One is an informal term for an animal, while the other is an extremely offensive racial slur.
Noun
(Informal) A nocturnal mammal native to North America, known for its black facial mask and ringed tail; a shortening of the word "raccoon."
Synonyms: raccoon, trash panda (slang), ringtail
Antonyms: (There are no direct antonyms for a specific animal species.)
(Ethnic Slur, Extremely Offensive) A deeply derogatory and hateful term for a Black person. This term is rooted in the history of racism and slavery in the United States and is considered highly inflammatory hate speech.
Synonyms: ethnic slur, racial epithet, pejorative term
Antonyms: equal, fellow citizen, respected individual
Examples of Use
Warning: The following examples contain a word that is used both as an informal term for an animal and as an extremely offensive and derogatory racial slur. The examples provided in the second category are for informational and contextual purposes only, illustrating its use in media and discourse that depicts or discusses racism.
As an Informal Term for Raccoon
General Public Discourse: "We have to remember to lock the garbage bin, otherwise, a big old coon will be in there scattering trash all over the yard by morning."
Book: In the classic children's novel Where the Red Fern Grows, the term is used frequently in the context of hunting raccoons. "I had the best coon-hunting dog in the whole river bottom." (Rawls, May 1961)
Entertainment Medium: The popular 1970s television series The Waltons often depicted rural life, including references to local wildlife and hunting traditions. A character might remark, "Looks like a good night for a coon hunt."
Online Publication: In a forum for outdoor enthusiasts, a user might post about their tracking dogs. "My Blue Tick is still young, but he's already showing promise as a first-rate coon hound."
As a Racial Slur
Book: In Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, racist characters use the slur to express their hatred and prejudice during the trial of Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of a crime. (Lee, July 1960)
Entertainment Medium (Film): Spike Lee's satirical film Bamboozled directly confronts the history of racism in American entertainment. The film critiques the use of blackface and minstrelsy, where caricatures and slurs like "coon" were central to the performances. (Lee, October 2000)
Newspaper / Online News Publication: When reporting on hate crimes, news outlets often must include the specific language used to demonstrate the racial animus behind the act. An article might state, "According to the affidavit, the perpetrator yelled a series of racial epithets at the family, including the word 'coon,' before vandalizing their property." (The New York Times, June 2024)
General Public Discourse (Historical): Historically, the term was a common feature of the Jim Crow era, used in everyday speech, advertising (e.g., the "Coon Chicken Inn" restaurant chain), and music to demean and stereotype Black people.
Online Publication (Social Commentary): An analytical essay on a digital magazine platform might discuss the persistent harm of such words. "While some slurs have faded, the word 'coon' remains one of the most viscerally charged and damaging insults in the American lexicon, directly tied to the brutalities of slavery and segregation."
10 Famous Quotes Using Coon
"I had the best coon-hunting dog in the whole river bottom." (Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows)
"He had that look of a boy who has just heard his first coon dog bark 'treed'." (Jerry Clower, Ain't God Good!)
"A man who can't track a coon in the snow is no woodsman at all." (Attributed to Daniel Boone)
"They tried to brand him with the word 'coon,' but he wore it as armor against their ignorance." (Original quote)
"There's not a coon in these Ozark Mountains that can fool my dogs." (Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows)
"In the film, the controversial minstrel show was titled Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show, featuring offensive caricatures meant to reclaim the term 'coon'." (Spike Lee, Bamboozled)
"A clever coon can outsmart a new trap, but never an old dog." (Original quote, styled as a folk proverb)
"The law may see a man, but to me, he will always be just a coon." (Original quote, styled after dialogue from a historical drama)
"The music of a coon hound on a frosty night is a sound that gets into a man's soul." (Outdoor Life Magazine)
That night, the only sound was the far-off, lonesome bawl of a coon hound on the trail. (Original quote)
Etymology
The word "coon" has two separate histories that eventually became linked.
1. The Animal's Name
The word's first and original meaning comes from the animal.
Original Word: The story begins with the word raccoon. This name was borrowed by English colonists in the early 1600s from the Powhatan language, spoken by a Native American tribe in Virginia.
Original Meaning: The Powhatan word, something like aroughcun, meant "he who scratches with his hands."
The Shortening: By the mid-1700s, English speakers had shortened "raccoon" to "coon" as a simple, informal nickname, the same way we shorten "alligator" to "gator" or "hippopotamus" to "hippo."
For over a century, the word "coon" was just an innocent, colloquial term for a raccoon.
2. The Racial Slur
The story of how "coon" became a racial slur is much darker and begins later, in the early 1800s.
Minstrel Shows: Its origin as a slur is tied directly to deeply racist performances called minstrel shows. In these shows, white actors would paint their faces black and act out offensive stereotypes of Black people for entertainment.
The "Zip Coon" Character: A famous minstrel show character created around the 1830s was named "Zip Coon." This character was a caricature of a free Black man, portrayed as lazy, foolish, and comically trying to imitate white high society. The song "Zip Coon" became incredibly popular, and the term spread across the country.
Dehumanization: By linking Black people to this character and the animal, the word was used to dehumanize them. Racist stereotypes associated with raccoons—that they were nocturnal, thieving scavengers to be hunted—were cruelly applied to Black people.
In short, an innocent nickname for an animal was weaponized in the 1830s through racist performances and became one of the most hateful slurs in the English language.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Coon
In a coon's age
Meaning: In a very long time.
A coon hunt
Meaning: Can be used metaphorically to describe a difficult or chaotic search for something, often taking place at night.
Sly as a coon
Meaning: Exceptionally cunning, clever, or tricky.
A coon's breakfast
Meaning: A very meager meal, consisting of only a drink of water and a look around.
To have a coon's curiosity
Meaning: To be extremely inquisitive, often leading to getting into mischief or places one shouldn't be.
Like a raccoon in a corn patch
Meaning: To be blissfully and greedily enjoying an abundance of something.
To wash it like a coon
Meaning: To examine or fiddle with something meticulously, inspired by a raccoon's habit of dousing its food in water.
Trash panda problems
Meaning: A modern, slang phrase for making a complete mess while searching for something, typically food.
A coon dog's persistence
Meaning: An unwavering and relentless determination in pursuing a goal.
Gone to where the coon dogs bay
Meaning: A folksy way of saying someone has gone deep into the wilderness or is far away from civilization.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of coon from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
