a member of a Semitic people inhabiting Arabia and other countries of the Middle East.
a member of any Arabic-speaking people.
Also called Arabber. Sometimes Offensive. a street peddler.
Archaic: Sometimes Offensive. street arab.
Arabia.
Arabian.
Arabic.
a member of a Semitic people originally inhabiting Arabia, who spread throughout the Middle East, N Africa, and Spain during the seventh and eighth centuries ad
a lively intelligent breed of horse, mainly used for riding
(modifier) of or relating to the Arabs
the Arab nations
The meanings “street peddler” and “vagabond” (in this second sense, also called a street arab ) are sometimes perceived as insulting because of their reference to the historically nomadic peoples of Arabia. The meaning “vagabond” has fallen into disuse. However, street vendors in Baltimore, Maryland, are called Arabs; in fact, it is a self-referential term—that is, one used by the vendors themselves.
The pronunciation of Arab as , with an initial sound and secondary stress on the second syllable, is sometimes used facetiously or disparagingly. It is especially common in the street-peddler and street-arab senses and is usually considered offensive in any sense.
First recorded in 1350–1400; from Latin Arab-, stem of Arabs, from Greek Árab-, stem of Áraps “Arabian, an Arabian, Arab,” from Arabic ʿArab, a self-designation
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fifa had trialled two minutes at the Arab Cup in December, but the domestic leagues pushed back on that.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
Bourzgui, whose father immigrated to America from Morocco, went on to pay tribute to Palestine and his own Arab heritage.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates increased shipments through pipelines that bypass the strait.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
The United Arab Emirates, which left the oil-exporters group at the end of April, has rerouted some of its oil exports via a pipeline to Fujairah, a port city outside the Hormuz strait.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
As they climbed, Babi told them that Bamiyan had once been a thriving Buddhist center until it had fallen under Islamic Arab rule in the ninth century.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
