kroes, adjective

/krʊs/
Origin:
Afrikaans
derogatory
1. Frizzy; an offensive mode of reference to tightly curled African hair; crissy. Occasionally also kroesie [English adjective-forming suffix -y, with spelling influenced by Afrikaans].
1949 H.C. Bosman in L. Abrahams Unto Dust (1963) 16The British Government wanted to give the vote to any Cape Coloured person walking about with a kroes head and big cracks in his feet.
1971 J. Branford Informant, Grahamstown (now Makhanda, Eastern Cape)Her hair is long and curly, not kroesie, but twisty.
1975 S. Roberts Outside Life’s Feast 17Her hair was black and tightly curled. Kroes, they call it. There’s a touch of the tar-brush there, Mom once said.
1977 S. Roberts in E. Pereira Contemp. S. Afr. Plays 250You favour him because he’s got black kroes hair.
1989 V. Owen in Grocott’s Mail 20 Jan. 11One of our number in an argument with him (who unfortunately had very curly hair) said it was obvious from his kroes hair why he could speak the lingo — from then on he never spoke one word.
2. combination
kroeskop /-kɔp/ [Afrikaans, kop head], an offensive term for (one with) frizzy or tightly-curled hair (used especially of the hair of black or ‘coloured’ people).
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 283Kroeskop, Another nickname applied to the Hottentots.
1964 R. Rive Mod. Afr. Prose 59Do you want Soufie with her black skin to sit in the dining-room? Or Ou Kaar with his kroeskop?
1970 C.B. Wood Informant, Johannesburg, GautengLook at that ‘kroes-kop’ (curly head).
Frizzy; an offensive mode of reference to tightly curled African hair; crissy. Occasionally also kroesie [English adjective-forming suffix -y, with spelling influenced by Afrikaans].
, an offensive term for (one with) frizzy or tightly-curled hair (used especially of the hair of black or ‘coloured’ people).
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

19131989

Compounds

kroeskop
krimpsiekte, nounn.kromnek, nounn.
Copyright © 2023 Dictionary Unit for South African English.