racial profiling
noun
Simple meaning
The practice, by some police and other officials.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rayshuhlprohfylingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹeɪʃəlpɹoʊfaɪlɪŋ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
public policylaw enforcement
The practice (usually considered discreditable), by some police and other officials, of treating members of certain racial groups as more likely to be involved in criminal or other antisocial behavior than members of other racial groups.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
This meaning: (public policy, law enforcement) The practice (usually considered discreditable), by some police and other officials, of treating members of certain racial groups as more likely to be involved in criminal or other antisocial behavior than members of other racial groups.
Used this way, racial profiling is a specialist word with a faintly unfavourable edge. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.