Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

white man's burden

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.97 in modern English

Syllables: white -man's bur-den
IPA

26

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

3

Syllables

13

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The supposed responsibility of European people to govern and care for their colonial subjects.

Example Sentences

"Uncle Sam has found his box of tricks heavy, and is having a whiff before going on with his white man's burden to the end."
"Germany's appearance as a colonizing power in Africa was greeted in no unfriendly spirit by either France or Great Britain. Each of the latter felt that it was already possessed of about all it could comfortably look after, and both realized that another shoulder under "The White Man's Burden" in the Dark Continent might make the load easier for all."
"So into at least one state troops poured, a battalion of decent National Service lads, to continue to carry, posthumously as it must be supposed, the White Man's Burden."

Etymology

From the poem The White Man's Burden (published 1899) by Rudyard Kipling.

Questions

What does white man's burden mean?: The supposed responsibility of European people to govern and care for their colonial subjects.
Where does white man's burden come from?: From the poem The White Man's Burden (published 1899) by Rudyard Kipling.

How to pronounce white man's burden

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “white man's burden”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “white man's burden”.
Repeat and practice — Say “white man's burden” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.