as in ethnic
of, relating to, or reflecting the traits exhibited by a group of people with a common ancestry and culture a tribal solidarity that transcends all other loyalties or bonds

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of tribal The alert is issued when there is a report of a missing or endangered person, including a tribal member, who is under age 65. Laura Gersony, AZCentral.com, 3 Nov. 2025 Borrowers who work full time for the federal, state, local or tribal government – including in schools and the military – can have their remaining debt forgiven after 10 years of monthly payments through public service loan forgiveness. Jennifer L. Steele, The Conversation, 3 Nov. 2025 But this treaty, like many the government signed with tribal nations, was forgotten or ignored over time, especially by state or local governments. Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 29 Oct. 2025 The backlot movie ranch features standing sets, shooting stages and 100 acres of tribal lands. Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for tribal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tribal
Adjective
  • The camp is just around 30 miles away from the border with South Sudan, were a civil war and ethnic violence that began in 2013 led tens of thousands of people — many on foot — to flee to Uganda.
    Fatma Tanis, NPR, 2 Nov. 2025
  • Gold sought to make a similar point with Fuji – an album named for a distinct genre from Nigeria’s Yourba ethnic group that critics like Zikoko’s Tomide Marv have since claimed is largely absent from its tracklist.
    Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Elsewhere in the book, Sioux recalls that several of her solos under Miller’s tutelage, even before the show started filming, had racial undertones to them.
    Tanisha Bhat, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
  • The deployment has also raised concerns about racial profiling, wrongful arrests, and political pressure on law enforcement to align with federal immigration crackdowns.
    Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Genocide is defined as attempting to partly or wholly destroy a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
    Ellie Cook Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
  • The United Nations broadly defines genocide as seriously harming or killing members of a group with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
    Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 12 Apr. 2022

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Cite this Entry

“Tribal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tribal. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.

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