nègre

ghostwriter

noun NEH-gruh Less Common

Usage Note

Nègre in the literary sense means 'ghostwriter' — the person who writes a book under another's name — and is still found in older French texts and dictionaries. However, the word's primary meaning is a highly offensive racial slur, and in contemporary French the recommended replacement is prête-plume or auteur fantôme. Use with extreme caution.

Examples

"Cet auteur utilise un nègre pour ses romans."

Natural Translation

This author uses a ghostwriter for his novels.

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