Illustration of hogan
: a Navajo Indian dwelling usually made of logs and mud with a door traditionally facing east
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The traditional dwelling of the Navajo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico is called a hogan. The hogan is roughly circular and constructed usually of logs, which are stepped in gradually to create a domed roof. The whole structure is then covered with mud and sod, except for a circular opening in the roof that allows smoke to escape. The entrance generally faces the rising sun.
Examples of hogan in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Her hogan, completed in 2020, is built out of juniper wood, bark, and sand.
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Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 21 Apr. 2025
The school’s rodeo grounds are pocked with prairie dog holes, and roads to the mobile home park and hogans that house employees are mostly unpaved.
—Matt Krupnick, ProPublica, 14 Oct. 2024
The Navajo elder lives in a hogan, a traditional home, built for him by neighbors in Wide Ruins, a remote town of 175 people in northeastern Arizona, about 250 miles from Phoenix.
—Alex Rhoades, NBC News, 3 Jan. 2024
Miranda Mullett, who grew up in Wide Ruins in a hogan built by her grandfather, initially embarked on her own effort to provide firewood to tribal members after visiting her ancestral home in December and learning of their plight.
—Alex Rhoades, NBC News, 3 Jan. 2024
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Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 21 Apr. 2025
The school’s rodeo grounds are pocked with prairie dog holes, and roads to the mobile home park and hogans that house employees are mostly unpaved.
—Matt Krupnick, ProPublica, 14 Oct. 2024
The Navajo elder lives in a hogan, a traditional home, built for him by neighbors in Wide Ruins, a remote town of 175 people in northeastern Arizona, about 250 miles from Phoenix.
—Alex Rhoades, NBC News, 3 Jan. 2024
Miranda Mullett, who grew up in Wide Ruins in a hogan built by her grandfather, initially embarked on her own effort to provide firewood to tribal members after visiting her ancestral home in December and learning of their plight.
—Alex Rhoades, NBC News, 3 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for hogan
Cite this Entry
“Hogan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hogan. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
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hogan
noun
ho·gan
ˈhō-ˌgän 
: a Navajo dwelling usually made of logs and mud with a door traditionally facing east
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