nigga
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈnɪɡə/
rhymes: -ɪɡə(ɹ)
Forms: form: niggas
form: niggaz
form: niggah
form: nigguh
form: nikka
form: nikkah
form: niqqa
form: nugga
Etymology: From a dialectal non-rhotic pronunciation of nigger.
Senses: glosses: Pronunciation spelling of nigger.
examples: text: I'd never betray you, 'cause you my nigga, man.
qualifier: but also often used affectionately in African-American Vernacular
glosses: A close and loyal friend.
examples: text: As soon as I walked into the class and saw that sea of white faces, I felt alone, so I sat next to the only other nigga there.
text: "I mean, if you're not interested, it ain't nothing but a thang, baby girl. Just let a nigga know."
ref: 2010, Chunichi, The Return of a Gangster's Girl, page 26:
qualifier: but tolerated in African-American Vernacular
glosses: A black person (usually a male friend), especially an African American.
examples: text: White niggas do be like, this is too spicy.
text: All these freshman niggas are so annoying.
text: These niggas out here bein' fake.
text: “I can sit here and talk about the industrial complex all day long,” she said. “But niggas don’t look up until I say ‘Rihanna.’ Which isn’t right, to use those things. But that’s what people pay attention to.” […] a track called “toxic” singles out a cheating ex-boyfriend using the kind of memorably straightforward language favored by many of Warner’s less bookish peers (“Had a whole baby on me—fuck you, nigga”), while another track includes a winsome snippet of a conversation Warner once had with an Uber driver, who reminisces about his time in jail.
ref: 2023 August 20, Kelefa Sanneh, quoting Fatimah Nyeema Warner, “Noname’s Ambivalent, Triumphant Comeback”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Aug 2023:
qualifier: chiefly African-American Vernacular
glosses: Any person, though chiefly male.
examples: text: Niggas on my dick more than my bitches.
ref: 2003, “If I Can't”, in Curtis Jackson (lyrics), Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo (music), Get Rich or Die Tryin', performed by 50 Cent, New York City: Shady Records:
text: I read somewhere I'm homophobic. Shit, go through the hood. There's mad niggas on my dick.
ref: 2005, “Ryder Music”, in Curtis Jackson (lyrics), Tony Cottrell (music), The Massacre, performed by 50 Cent, New York City: Shady Records:
text: Now if you go to a party, and it's straight niggas, then I say a good 7 times out of 10, it's bouta get LIT UP! Like bro, dudes don't go to parties for other dudes. Nobody wants to pull up to a sausage fest. Like nothing is worse than pulling up to a party that was promoted to have hella joints there, for there to be no females there!
ref: 2024, Odawg, 3 SIGNS A PARTY IS ABOUT TO GET SHOT UP! (YouTube):
qualifier: but tolerated in African-American Vernacular
glosses: A male, especially an adult one, as opposed to a female.
Synonyms: sense: a friend, a black person
word: nigger
sense: a friend, a black person
word: nizzle
sense: a friend, a black person
word: homie
Derived terms: chigga
fucknigga
house nigga
neezy
nigaboo
niggacide
nigga nod
Niggatown
niggatry
sandnigga
side nigga
wigga
Related terms: nucca
noun