: of, relating to, or characteristic of the continent of Asia or its people
Asian vs. Asiatic: Usage Guide
Asian is now solidly preferred to Asiatic; the latter persists mainly in the names of some kinds of flora and fauna.
an Asiatic lily
the Asiatic elephant
Asiatic still has some use as a geographical designator
the Asiatic side of the Bosporus
but has increasingly been considered offensive, especially as associated with the policies of colonialism.
1
: a native or inhabitant of Asia
2
: a person of Asian descent
Examples of Asian in a Sentence
Noun
There are many Asians living in South America.
Recent Examples on the Web
Andrew McNicol, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
As first reported by The Guardian on April 4, several of the companies took to social media to complain the letters were unfair, particularly since most of the brands are small and David Chang and Momofuku are so well known in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
—Mae Anderson, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024
Minkoff was the first Asian American housewife on Bravo‘s L.A.-based Housewives series.
—Zoe G Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Apr. 2024
Maison operates four Asian supermarkets east of Los Angeles, under the HK Good Fortune brand.
—The Arizona Republic, 15 Apr. 2024
His scholarly work examined the impact of bilingual education policy and teacher practice on the academic lives of Latino and Asian immigrants.
—Elizabeth Hernandez, The Denver Post, 14 Apr. 2024
There would be about seven White people, two Hispanic people, one Black person, one Asian person and one person who is mixed or some other race.
—Michael Cadenhead, Washington Post, 14 Apr. 2024
The captain also begins a steamy affair with Sofia Mori (Sandra Oh), an older Japanese American woman who's as eager to rid herself of association with her Asian heritage as the captain is to cling to his.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
The strong growth of Democratic support among Latino and Asian voters has played a key role in making California a solidly Democratic state.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
TIME, 16 Apr. 2024
Most of the companies that received the letter were small brands founded by Asian Americans.
—Mae Anderson, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024
In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Survived the CIA by Patrick Winn.
—Patrick Winn, Rolling Stone, 13 Apr. 2024
The Sympathizer special screening Max partnered with Gold House, A24, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association to host an exclusive early screening of The Sympathizer for the local Vietnamese community in Orange County on April 5.
—Kirsten Chuba, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Apr. 2024
Hispanics and Asian Americans have slightly more diverse social circles, with 63 percent and 65 percent of their social networks, respectively, made up of people of the same ethnic background, the study found.
—Rachel Hatzipanagos, Washington Post, 11 Apr. 2024
Devgn stars as Syed Abdul Rahim, whose revolutionary coaching and strategy methods led the Indian national soccer team to gold medals in the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games and a semi-final berth at the 1956 Olympics.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 11 Apr. 2024
Sakshi Venkatraman Sakshi Venkatraman is a reporter for NBC Asian America.
—Sakshi Venkatraman, NBC News, 11 Apr. 2024
Also knocked out of the Asian Champions League, the team is 12 points behind Riyadh rival Al-Hilal in the SPL.
—George Ramsay, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
Adjective
He is ranked 77th in the world in men’s marathon by World Athletics and is expected to lead the way for Asian runners in the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
—Andrew McNicol, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
As first reported by The Guardian on April 4, several of the companies took to social media to complain the letters were unfair, particularly since most of the brands are small and David Chang and Momofuku are so well known in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
—Mae Anderson, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024
Minkoff was the first Asian American housewife on Bravo‘s L.A.-based Housewives series.
—Zoe G Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Apr. 2024
Maison operates four Asian supermarkets east of Los Angeles, under the HK Good Fortune brand.
—The Arizona Republic, 15 Apr. 2024
His scholarly work examined the impact of bilingual education policy and teacher practice on the academic lives of Latino and Asian immigrants.
—Elizabeth Hernandez, The Denver Post, 14 Apr. 2024
There would be about seven White people, two Hispanic people, one Black person, one Asian person and one person who is mixed or some other race.
—Michael Cadenhead, Washington Post, 14 Apr. 2024
The captain also begins a steamy affair with Sofia Mori (Sandra Oh), an older Japanese American woman who's as eager to rid herself of association with her Asian heritage as the captain is to cling to his.
—Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024
The strong growth of Democratic support among Latino and Asian voters has played a key role in making California a solidly Democratic state.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
Noun
But as the group drew closer to the finish line, the Chinese athlete, 25-year-old Asian Games marathon gold medallist He Jie, began to fall behind.
—TIME, 16 Apr. 2024
Most of the companies that received the letter were small brands founded by Asian Americans.
—Mae Anderson, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024
In Search of the Asian Drug Cartel That Survived the CIA by Patrick Winn.
—Patrick Winn, Rolling Stone, 13 Apr. 2024
The Sympathizer special screening Max partnered with Gold House, A24, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association to host an exclusive early screening of The Sympathizer for the local Vietnamese community in Orange County on April 5.
—Kirsten Chuba, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Apr. 2024
Hispanics and Asian Americans have slightly more diverse social circles, with 63 percent and 65 percent of their social networks, respectively, made up of people of the same ethnic background, the study found.
—Rachel Hatzipanagos, Washington Post, 11 Apr. 2024
Devgn stars as Syed Abdul Rahim, whose revolutionary coaching and strategy methods led the Indian national soccer team to gold medals in the 1951 and 1962 Asian Games and a semi-final berth at the 1956 Olympics.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 11 Apr. 2024
Sakshi Venkatraman Sakshi Venkatraman is a reporter for NBC Asian America.
—Sakshi Venkatraman, NBC News, 11 Apr. 2024
Also knocked out of the Asian Champions League, the team is 12 points behind Riyadh rival Al-Hilal in the SPL.
—George Ramsay, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Asian.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Phrases Containing Asian
Dictionary Entries Near Asian
Cite this Entry
“Asian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Asian. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
Asian
adjectiveˈā-zhən,
ˈā-shən
: of, relating to, or characteristic of Asia or its people
Asian
noun
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