multiracial

adjective

mul·​ti·​ra·​cial ˌməl-tē-ˈrā-shəl How to pronounce multiracial (audio)
-ˌtī-
1
: composed of, involving, or representing various races (see race entry 1 sense 1a)
a multiracial society
multiracial families
"This is real music by real musicians," exclaimed Prince in the midst of "Controversy," one of roughly two dozen songs he performed before an adoring multiracial, all-ages, pansexual, sold-out crowd.Ernest Hardy
2
: having parents or ancestors of different races
my multiracial background
… the percentage of those identifying as multiracial has more than quadrupled.Los Angeles Business Journal
Junior high and high school, with their harsh social delineation, can be particularly tough. But multiracial teens who run the gantlet often emerge with a stronger sense of self.Lynette Clemetson
multiracialism noun

Examples of multiracial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Rather, Lawrence focused his gaze on the multiracial mass of people who had come together to view the inauguration. Michael Lobel, Artforum, 1 Apr. 2026 And some of the silence is designed to amplify the missing, the previously ignored, the co-opted, the terrorized, the gaslighted, and excluded voices of the country’s most ardent supporters of a multiracial democracy. Literary Hub, 30 Mar. 2026 As business suffered, white business leaders pressed for reforms, contributing to the end of apartheid and South Africa’s multiracial elections in 1994. David Cortright, The Conversation, 26 Mar. 2026 This willful overreach is more or less business as usual for Albarn and his old housemate Hewlett, who, by conceiving this cartoon combo of multiracial punks in 1998, advanced a vision of pop hybridity that anticipated our age of cultural superabundance. Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 27 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for multiracial

Word History

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of multiracial was in 1897

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Cite this Entry

“Multiracial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/multiracial. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.

Kids Definition

multiracial

adjective
mul·​ti·​ra·​cial ˌməl-ti-ˈrā-shəl How to pronounce multiracial (audio)
-ˌtī-
1
: composed of, involving, or representing various races
2
: having parents or ancestors of different races
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