Cherokee

noun

Cher·​o·​kee ˈcher-ə-(ˌ)kē 

ˈche-rə-

1

plural Cherokee or Cherokees : a member of a nation of once-nomadic Indigenous peoples located originally in the Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina

2

: the Iroquoian language of the Cherokee people

Examples of Cherokee in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His wife also works for the Cherokee County detention center and his son-in-law works for the sheriff's office. —Meredith Deliso, ABC News, 1 July 2025

The nine cities that are participating are Cherokee Village, Fairfield Bay, Heber Springs, Helena-West Helena, Horseshoe Bend, Russellville, Bull Shoals, Lakeview and Hot Springs Village. —Harley Walls, Arkansas Online, 29 June 2025

The blind zones of six popular passenger vehicles – Chevrolet Suburban, Ford F-150, Honda Accord, Honda CR-V, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Toyota Camry – grew substantially over the past 25 years and resulted in a decrease in forward visibility. —Tanya Mohn, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025

Immediately after receiving the woman’s complaint, Cherokee Indian Police launched a criminal investigation that included interviewing the woman and pulling surveillance videos and license plate reader information, Welch wrote. —Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 28 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

probably ultimately from Creek calá·kki

First Known Use

1721, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing Cherokee

• Cherokee rose

Rhymes for Cherokee

• agree
• allee
• banshee
• beastly
• bibi
• bowsprit
• carefree
• cerci
• chablis
• cowpea
• crappie
• crappy

Kids Definition

Cherokee

noun

Cher·​o·​kee ˈcher-ə-ˌkē 

: a member of an Indigenous people originally from Tennessee and North Carolina

also : their language