ethnic

adjective

ˈeth-nik How to pronounce ethnic (audio)
Definition of ethnicnext
as in racial
of, relating to, or reflecting the traits exhibited by a group of people with a common ancestry and culture a festival featuring ethnic food and music

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 ethnic My journey—from a Jewish refugee fleeing ethnic persecution in Belarus to the CEO of a nursing education group—has been anything but linear. — Mikhail Shneyder, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026 The United States and the European Union have expressed concern about China’s new ethnic unity law, which went into effect this week and gives Beijing the legal basis to take action against people outside its borders. — Reuters, NBC news, 3 July 2026 In Latin America, as Hayes-Bautista explained, after centuries of Indigenous and Spanish intermingling, racial and ethnic lines were fluid, with myriad, subtle gradations of color, lineage and heritage. — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 2 July 2026 Rexhep Meidani of Albania visits Kosovo, the first visit ever by an Albanian head of state to the neighboring Yugoslav province; Kosovo is heavily populated by ethnic Albanians. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for ethnic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ethnic
  1. racial
  2. ethnical
Adjective
  • In fact, Smith has long argued that the NFL has overlooked Black candidates at those positions because of racial bias.
    — Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026
  • The crew and the two witnesses said one of the three men got out with a dog and then moved aggressively towards the crew while shouting racial slurs targeted at the photographer.
    — Jeramie Bizzle, CBS News, 2 July 2026
Definition of racial
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
Definition of ethnical

Browse Nearby Words

ethics
ethnic
ethnical
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Cite this Entry

“Ethnic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ethnic. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on ethnic

Nglish: Translation of ethnic for Spanish Speakers

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