Native American

noun

plural Native Americans

: a member of any of the Indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere

especially : a Native American of North America and especially the U.S.

Native American adjective

Examples of Native American in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Two tipsters had told Carpenter that a man named Don Miller had stolen human remains and burial pieces from Native American graves along with other cultural artifacts from around the world. —Domenica Bongiovanni, IndyStar, 5 Nov. 2025

Roughly 1,372 of those miles cut through Native American Tribes’ land. —Kit Bernardi, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025

Menominee Indian schools serve about 1,000 students, a majority of whom are Native American. —Kayla Huynh, jsonline.com, 24 Oct. 2025

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, faced criticism from some conservatives over a social media post commemorating Native American Day instead of Columbus Day—but his state was the first to end recognition of Columbus Day. —Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1628, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

Native American

noun

: a member of any of the Indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere

especially : a Native American of North America and especially the U.S. compare american indian

Native American adjective