Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Used as a disparaging term for a person of Latin and especially Italian descent.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun offensive slang a person of Italian descent; -- used as a derogatory ethnic slur, and considered offensive.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US, slang, pejorative, ethnic slur A person of Italian descent.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (ethnic slur) offensive term for a person of Italian descent

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Derived from the fact that Italian-Americans are stereotyped as having greasy or greased-up hair, e.g. John Travolta in Grease and Saturday Night Fever.

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Examples

  • Somebody killed the old man and the guy you called a greaseball.

    The Glass Rainbow James Lee Burke 2010

  • Somebody killed the old man and the guy you called a greaseball.

    The Glass Rainbow James Lee Burke 2010

  • Somebody killed the old man and the guy you called a greaseball.

    The Glass Rainbow James Lee Burke 2010

  • Somebody killed the old man and the guy you called a greaseball.

    The Glass Rainbow James Lee Burke 2010

  • "I hated the negatives that we were subjected to - the 'greaseball' and the 'guinea' and the 'wop,'" recalled

    NYT > Home Page 2010

  • "I hated the negatives that we were subjected to - the 'greaseball' and the 'guinea' and the 'wop,'" recalled

    NYT > Home Page 2010

  • Enter vicious greaseball De Witt Albright, a creepy white man par excellence who has an ostensibly simple request: find the lovely miss Daphne Monet, a blonde with a penchant for black men.

    Today's Book Review 2010

  • Eww, why would anyone date a greaseball like Pattinson?

    Courtney Love Loses Custody Of Daughter Frances Bean Cobain 2009

  • Enter vicious greaseball De Witt Albright, a creepy white man par excellence who has an ostensibly simple request: find the lovely miss Daphne Monet, a blonde with a penchant for black men.

    Archive 2010-01-01 2010

  • And the truth is that the same pack of greaseball oligarchs have done it again.

    Printing: Taking Tea with the Lizards 2010

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