How to Use Swahili in a Sentence

Swahili

noun
  • Each pair of shoes has a script with a Swahili proverb or saying.
    — Erinne Magee, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Nov. 2024
  • Take your pick from full-on Swahili feasts to meal-in-one salads for days out in the bush.
    — Jennifer Flowers, AFAR Media, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Your kids may even pick up a few words in Swahili which is sometimes spoken on the show!
    — Hannah Nwoko, Parents, 2 Oct. 2023
  • Kwanzaa means the first fruits of the harvest in the Swahili language.
    — Mara Williams, Kansas City Star, 31 Dec. 2025
  • Words in Chinese or Swahili could be streamed to our brains in real time.
    — Alan Lightman september 12, Literary Hub, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Pre-surgery, no one translated what was going on into Swahili.
    — Maya Silver, NPR, 22 June 2024
  • Arab and Swahili traders sailed these waters on dhows, stopping along the coast to exchange goods such as ivory, gold, and spices.
    — Ali Pantony, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Apr. 2026
  • After all, who cares about Swahili other than maybe five million native speakers?
    — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Three women sat in a row beside me under humming dryers, speaking in Swahili.
    — Literary Hub, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Waylon Jennings bailed when Wonder suggested that part of the piece be sung in Swahili.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 30 Jan. 2024
  • Stepping into it tells the story of centuries of trade, conquest, and resilience on the Swahili Coast.
    — Emese MacZko, Forbes, 18 Feb. 2025
  • How do these results gleaned from ancient DNA restore heritage for the Swahili?
    — The Conversation, Fortune, 30 Mar. 2023
  • Stevie Wonder called friends in Nigeria who spoke Swahili and then came back into the room and asked for silence.
    — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 3 July 2026
  • Kumi means 10 in Swahili; this name would act as a nod to mother Kala, since the newborn is her 10th calf.
    — Usa Today, USA Today, 16 June 2026
  • The researchers intend to gather more samples to continue to fill in the missing pieces of Swahili ancestry.
    — Margaret Osborne, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Mar. 2023
  • Accented on the first syllable, Zahra means beautiful flower in Swahili, the zoo said.
    — Martin Weil, Washington Post, 11 June 2023
  • Others include places threatened by climate change, such as heritage sites on the Swahili Coast of East Africa.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Jan. 2025
  • Often the start or finish of a Swahili Coast cruise, Mombasa makes an excellent gateway for a pre‑ or post‑cruise stay.
    — David Dickstein, Oc Register, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Ramazani’s eyes lit up big and wide when Kavita began speaking to Ramazani’s family in Swahili.
    — Joseph Goodman, al, 27 July 2023
  • One such inlet is Jumba beach, which abuts the site of an old Swahili village near the bustling city of Mombasa, in southern Kenya.
    — Juma Adero, The New Yorker, 26 July 2023
  • These bungalows offer guests the chance to experience one of the last untouched land and sea sanctuaries on the Swahili Coast.
    — Andi Cross, Forbes, 19 Mar. 2025
  • Climate change threatens Africa's Swahili Coast and 66 historic lighthouses on the coast of Maine.
    — Neda Ulaby, NPR, 15 Jan. 2025
  • This trade transformed the Swahili coast into a meeting point of cultures and influences—a maritime thread linking continents through wind, wood, and water.
    — Sharon MacHira, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Aug. 2025
  • The clubs serve families who speak more than a dozen languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Swahili and Vietnamese.
    — Elise Schmelzer, Denver Post, 27 Oct. 2025
  • Families can also enjoy raft rides together, including the large funnel attractions Stingray and Swahili Swirl.
    — Gabi De La Rosa, Chron, 16 May 2023
  • His optimistic message, quoting Bruce Springsteen and tossing in some words in Swahili, had an immediate positive impact.
    — Ed Garsten, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
  • The hybrid culture created out of these violent and unhappy encounters was doomed to die; the one thing that has remained is the language, Swahili, which has captured that history like a fly in amber.
    — Nadifa Mohamed, Harper's Magazine, 15 June 2022
  • Henriette speaks multiple languages including English, French, and Swahili.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 22 July 2023
  • Subsequent research has found large olfactory lexicons in at least forty other languages, among them Fang, Khmer, Swahili, and Zapotec.
    — Manvir Singh, The New Yorker, 23 Dec. 2024
  • Lamu, Kenya Sitting in the Indian Ocean to the northeast of the Kenyan mainland, Lamu is one of the cradles of Swahili culture.
    — Annabelle Dufraigne, Architectural Digest, 15 Feb. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Swahili.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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