Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tar baby

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.62 in modern English

Syllables: tar ba-by
IPA

14

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A difficult, abstract problem that worsens as one attempts to handle it; a sticky situation, especially one where attempts to make it better only make it worse.

American usage

noun

A black person.

Derogatory; Slang

Example Sentences

"2006, Mitt Romney, quoted in "Romney apologizes for calling Big Dig 'tar baby'", July 31, 2006, WISTV.com Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is apologizing for referring to the troubled Big Dig construction project as a "tar baby." / Romney made the comment during a speech at a fund-raiser with Iowa Republicans on Saturday. Romney told the crowd "The best thing politically would be to stay as far away from that tar baby as I can.""
"If Dees had indicated any willingness to personally pursue the case, Ed would've immediately had him appointed as a special prosecutor and turned this tar baby of a case over to him on the spot."

Etymology

Referring to a doll made of tar and turpentine to entrap Br'er Rabbit in one of Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus stories, published in 1881, from earlier African American folklore, from earlier African (e.g. Kongo) folklore, influenced in America by similar stories from various unrelated Native American tribes, such as the Cherokee, Alabama, Koasati, and Apache. (Similar stories are found throughout the world, e.g. among the Mixtec and Zapotec.)

Usage

Inflected Forms

tar babies (plural)

Phrases

tar pit black hole glue trap hot mess hot potato sticky wicket

Frequently Paired Words

tarpit tar pit black hole glue trap hot mess hot potato hydra quagmire

Questions

What does tar baby mean?: A difficult, abstract problem that worsens as one attempts to handle it; a sticky situation, especially one where attempts to make it better only make it worse.
Where does tar baby come from?: Referring to a doll made of tar and turpentine to entrap Br'er Rabbit in one of Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus stories, published in 1881, from earlier African American folklore, from earlier African (e.g. Kongo) folklore, influenced in America by similar stories from various unrelated Native American tribes, such as the Cherokee, Alabama, Koasati, and Apache. (Similar stories are found throughout the world, e.g. among the Mixtec and Zapotec.)

How to pronounce tar baby

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