plural Dinkas also Dinka
1
: a member of a pastoral people of the Nile Valley in south central Sudan
2
: the Nilotic language of the Dinkas
Examples of Dinka in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
It is divided along ethnic lines – between the majority Dinka tribe, which Kiir hails from, and Machar’s Nuer ethnic group, the second-largest in the country.
—
Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN Money, 3 May 2025
The peace deal established a power-sharing agreement between the country’s largest ethnic groups, Mr. Kiir’s Dinka and Mr. Machar’s Nuer, which fought a bloody civil war that erupted roughly two years after South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
—Abdi Latif Dahir, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
The power struggle in South Sudan between President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer, took on an ethnic dimension during the civil war.
—Sam Mednick, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2023
The fighting has largely been seen as a political struggle between factions allied to president Kiir’s Dinka ethnic group and supporters of the country’s first vice president, Riek Machar, mostly from the Nuer ethnicity.
—Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 1 Feb. 2023
Among his many wives, 30 are Dinka and even more are Nuer.
—Jérôme Tubiana, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2015
In contrast, the blackness of a Dinka from Sudan is a matter of biological categorization.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 13 Dec. 2010
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Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN Money, 3 May 2025
The peace deal established a power-sharing agreement between the country’s largest ethnic groups, Mr. Kiir’s Dinka and Mr. Machar’s Nuer, which fought a bloody civil war that erupted roughly two years after South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
—Abdi Latif Dahir, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
The power struggle in South Sudan between President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer, took on an ethnic dimension during the civil war.
—Sam Mednick, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2023
The fighting has largely been seen as a political struggle between factions allied to president Kiir’s Dinka ethnic group and supporters of the country’s first vice president, Riek Machar, mostly from the Nuer ethnicity.
—Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 1 Feb. 2023
Among his many wives, 30 are Dinka and even more are Nuer.
—Jérôme Tubiana, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2015
In contrast, the blackness of a Dinka from Sudan is a matter of biological categorization.
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 13 Dec. 2010
Cite this Entry
“Dinka.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Dinka. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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