Inuit
Americannoun
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Inuits,
plural
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Inuit
plural
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a member of a group of Indigenous peoples inhabiting northernmost North America from northern Alaska to eastern Canada and Greenland.
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the language of the Inuit, a member of the Eskimo-Aleut family comprising a variety of dialects.
noun
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any of several Native peoples of N America or Greenland, as distinguished from those from Asia or the Aleutian Islands (who are still generally referred to as Eskimos); the preferred term for Eskimo in N America Compare Yupik
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the language of these peoples; Inuktitut
Sensitive Note
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Inuit
First recorded in 1755–65; from Inuit: literally, “people,” plural of inuk “person”
Compare meaning
How does inuit compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They came from a whale that was killed legally by native Inuit in 1996, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
He wants Greenland to leave the Kingdom of Denmark and enter into a form of free-association agreement with the U.S. that protects it militarily and recognizes the rights of its Inuit people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Aqqaluk Lynge, author and former president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, says there is "so much distrust now".
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
To choose the name, the researchers worked with Jarloo Kiguktak, an Inuit Elder and former mayor of Grise Fiord, the northernmost Inuit community in Canada.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 24, 2026
His own great-grandmother’s story of discovering a grave there indicating a body buried underground—not wrapped in fur and sent out to sea in the Inuit style—particularly stuck with Kamookak.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
He had brought smallpox with him, and the disease raced around the island, killing Inuits and Europeans alike.
From Science Magazine ● Sep. 26, 2023
The Inuits, now in their 70s, are the surviving members of the group of 22 children who were removed from their homes to be educated as "little Danes".
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2021
On April 6, 1909, American explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson and four Inuits became the first men to reach the North Pole.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 6, 2021
The Paleo-Eskimos were not the ancestors of today’s Inuits: They were replaced by them.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2016
Urio showed more affection towards his child, with whom he rubbed cheeks in the manner peculiar to the Inuits.
From The Little Gleaner, Vol. X. A Monthly Magazine for the Young by Various
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.
