creole

play

adjective cre·ole \ ˈkrē-ˌōl \

Definition of creole

1 often capitalized :of or relating to Creoles or their language

2 often capitalized :relating to or being highly seasoned food typically prepared with rice, okra, tomatoes, and peppers

shrimp creole

See creole defined for English-language learners

See creole defined for kids

Recent Examples of creole from the Web

Zydeco is the distinctive, churning and whirling African-American spin on cajun music by French-Creole speakers.

— john adamian, courant.com, "Accordion Player Jeffery Broussard At Cafe Nine," 16 Aug. 2017
The Cristo Rey team in Miami has already started surveying students and parents through forms distributed in English, Spanish and Creole to evaluate the needs of prospective students.

— by emily l. mahoney, miamiherald, "This school has kids pay tuition through real work. It’s coming to Miami," 6 Aug. 2017
Sweeten that romantic bond by treating them to a crunchy creole shrimp po'boy.

— catherine o’neill, Bon Appetit, "Your August Horoscopes: A Big Sandwich for Every Zodiac Sign," 1 Aug. 2017
There’s a good amount of diversity on the west side where there is black, Asian and creole communities.

— caitlin doornbos, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Orange County Sheriff's Office recruits potential employees in Pine Hills," 6 July 2017
But listen, journalists have egos that are as big and juicy as Creole tomatoes.

— doug maccash, NOLA.com, "How I got kicked out of Tipitina's during a Guy Fieri show," 27 June 2017
Waren Leruth's elegant West Bank restaurant was legendary for its original French-Creole cooking, like oyster artichoke soup and sautéed soft-shelled crabs with with lump crab meat.

— NOLA.com, "Do you remember LeRuth's? A lost New Orleans restaurant," 31 May 2017
Stir in the salt, black pepper, cayenne, thyme, bay leaves, oregano, basil, Creole seasoning, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.

— marjie lambert, miamiherald, "Gumbo love: From Key West to New Orleans, dishes from the coastal south," 16 May 2017
Bayou Brothers, from the former owners of The Yuppie Tavern, will focus on Cajun and creole cooking.

— tan vinh, The Seattle Times, "JuneBaby, Kai Market and more: 13 new restaurants to check out in Seattle and the Eastside," 4 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'creole.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of creole

1737

Other Language Terms

cognate, collocation, homonym

Creole

play

noun Cre·ole \ ˈkrē-ˌōl \

Definition of Creole

1 :a person of European descent born especially in the West Indies or Spanish America

2 :a white person descended from early French or Spanish settlers of the U.S. Gulf states and preserving their speech and culture

3 :a person of mixed French or Spanish and black descent speaking a dialect of French or Spanish

4 a :a language evolved from pidginized French that is spoken by blacks in southern Louisiana

b :haitian

c not capitalized :a language that has evolved from a pidgin but serves as the native language of a speech community

See Creole defined for English-language learners

See Creole defined for kids

Examples of creole in a Sentence

Some people in Louisiana speak Creole.

Recent Examples of creole from the Web

Once inside, there’s a chill bar with affordable drinks and a diverse menu with local NOLA favorites like gumbo, shrimp creole, and jambalaya.

— alexandra temblador, miamiherald, "New Orleans: 10 must-do things," 10 July 2017
Moving to Ruth's shrimp creole, Liz rattled off adjectives.

— holly v. hays, Indianapolis Star, "Interns compete to make meal using only ingredients from a liquidating Marsh store," 7 July 2017
George Herriman was one of the class of Louisianans known as blanc fo’cé: Creoles who actively tried to pass as white.

— gabrielle bellot, The New Yorker, "The Gender Fluidity of Krazy Kat," 19 Jan. 2017
And like creoles and slang, the most creative users of emoji are the youth.

— nick stockton, WIRED, "Emoji—Trendy Slang or a Whole New Language?," 24 June 2015

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'Creole.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of creole

French créole, from Spanish criollo, from Portuguese crioulo white person born in the colonies

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1697

See Words from the same year

Other Anthropology Terms

ectomorph, ethnography, prehistory, yurt

CREOLE Defined for English Language Learners

creole

play

adjective

Definition of creole for English Language Learners

: relating to people who are Creoles or to their language

Creole

play

noun

Definition of Creole for English Language Learners

: a person who has African and French or Spanish ancestors; especially : such a person who lives in the West Indies
: a person whose ancestors were some of the first people from France or Spain to live in the southeastern U.S.
: a language that is based on French and that uses words from African languages