Asian — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A person from the continent of Asia, or a descendant thereof - especially: A person from or with ancestry in East or Southeast Asia, occasionally South Asia.

   Usage

   • Australia
   • Canada
   • New-Zealand
   • US usage

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Hate crimes and attacks on Asians have captured the local news and the national attention since 2020, producing a stream of content that showed innocent people being attacked and belittled in never-ending variations on the same violent theme.

2. A person from the continent of Asia, or a descendant thereof - especially: A person from or with ancestry in South Asia.

   Usage

   • Kenya
   • South-Africa
   • UK usage
   • Uganda

   Examples

   More examples (2)

   We call upon you to be ready to take over from the non-citizens who are leaving the country. As you are aware, I, on Wednesday the 9th August, 1972, signed a Decree revoking with effect from that date, all entry permits and certificates of residence which had been granted to British citizens of Asian origin and the nationals of India, Pakistan and Bangla Desh. They were, however, permitted to stay in Uganda for a period of 90 days from that day [...]

   It is not true that Asians were inadaptable in East Africa. Nearly all Indian men learned to speak English, and, by the second generation, both sexes had become fluently Anglophone, while continuing to use their native tongue (mostly Gujarati, Cutchi, Punjabi or Hindustani). Most Indians also learned the upland Swahili pidgin which is the trade language of East Africa; while few spoke the “correct” coastal Swahili, their fluency in “kitchen Swahili” was often superior to that of the Europeans. The more rural Indian shopkeepers did indeed become somewhat Africanized, while the urban Indian became more Anglicized.

   If radio and television programmes are anything to go by, Asians in Britain get up early on a Sunday.

   Were there Taliban beheading people? I didn't tell my parents, but I flinched if an Asian-looking man came close.

3. A domestic cat of a breed similar to the Burmese.

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or from Asia.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

   Synonyms

   Asiatic

   Related words

   AsiaphobeAsiaphobiaAsiaphobicAsiatic → Asiatically

   Examples

   There are white, black, Asian and Chinese Britons, just as there are any number of different sorts of Americans.

   More examples (1)

   And some Asian countries are tightening their immigration laws. Japan reinforced its strict stance in January when a court upheld the country’s ban against dual citizenship, rejecting a lawsuit filed by Japanese citizens living in Europe.

Adjective

1. of or relating to or characteristic of Asia or the peoples of Asia or their languages or culture

   Synonyms

   Asiatic

   Examples

   Asian countries

Noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Asia

   Synonyms

   Asiatic

   Broader terms

   inhabitanthabitantdwellerdenizenindwellerperson of colorperson of colour