greaseball

English

Etymology

From grease +‎ ball; possibly derived from the fact that Italians and Italian-Americans are stereotyped as having greasy or greased-up hair.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

greaseball (plural greaseballs)

1. (US, slang, derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of Italian descent especially, but also used pejoratively to refer to people of Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, other Mediterranean, or Latin American descent.

   Hyponyms: dago, Eyetie, goombah, guido, guinea, wog, wop (Italian)

   • 1982, Stephen King, Survivor Type:

     Do you think I wanted to walk across that stage and get my diploma and look down and see that fat greaseball sitting there? […] I got into a fraternity, too. It wasn’t one of the good ones, not with a name like Pinzetti, but a fraternity all the same.

2. (slang) A mechanic.
3. (slang) A biker, a tough.
4. (slang) A rocker or metalhead, especially one who listens to 1950s rock and roll or 1980s thrash metal.

Translations

person of Italian descent — see wop