American Indian

noun

plural American Indians

: a member of any of the Indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere except often certain peoples (such as the Yupik and Inuit) who live in arctic regions

especially : an American Indian of North America and especially the U.S. compare native american

American Indian adjective

Examples of American Indian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Low numbers have long been a concern, but the latest figure represents a 22 percent decline in American Indian or Alaska Native students seeking to become doctors. —Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2025

In an interview last year, a deputy director for AHCCCS also acknowledged that the agency’s American Indian Health Program lacked safeguards for fraud. —Mary Hudetz, ProPublica, 22 Apr. 2025

Prevalence among white children was 27.7 per 1,000, which is lower than prevalence among multiracial (31.9), Hispanic (33.0), Black (36.6), American Indian or Alaska Native (37.5), or Asian or Pacific Islander children (38.2). —ArsTechnica, 15 Apr. 2025

Other groups with a lot of kids and teens include people who identified as Some Other Race (28.6 percent), Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (28.3 percent), American Indian or Alaska Native (27.1 percent), and Black or African American (24.7 percent). —Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1650, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for American Indian

• amerindian

Kids Definition

American Indian

noun

: a member of any of the Indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere except often certain peoples (as the Yupik and Inuit) who live in arctic regions

especially : an American Indian of North America and especially the U.S.

American Indian adjective