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 Because New York is only as great as its citizens, and that means continuing its legendary diversity—not just racial and ethnic but also economic diversity. — Gary Shteyngart, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Oct. 2026 That is the same argument that has been used, in different centuries, against the printing press, against Darwin, against Rushdie, against Einstein when the ethnic laws came for him. — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026 What universities should teach A university should make students uncomfortable, but not because professors humiliate them, punish dissent, or demand that students defend political positions simply because of their religious or ethnic identities. — Rabbi Bruce D. Forman, Sun Sentinel, 13 Oct. 2026 Onscreen, this ethnic conflict allowed Ken-san and other kimonoed gangsters to be presented as pure, sincere, patriotic heroes fighting for traditional Japanese values against savage aliens as well as local, gun-toting yakuza. — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for ethnic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ethnic
  1. racial
  2. ethnical
Adjective
  • In Britain, comedians including Gina Yashere, Mo Gilligan, Curtis Walker, and Dane Baptiste have been critical of Ali G’s reliance on racial stereotypes.
    — Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 27 Oct. 2026
  • In the United States, cancer death rates have steadily declined among Black people but remain higher than in other racial and ethnic groups.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Oct. 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 28 Oct. 2026.

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