First recorded in 1625–35; Virgini(a) + -an
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The white women in bonnets still make appearances, but so do performers like Stephen Seals, who portrays James Armistead Lafayette, an enslaved Virginian turned revolutionary spy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
At the Virginian, a dimly lit dive bar with dollar bills plastered to the wall, bartender Joshua Roche was pouring beers Thursday for a rowdy group that included one active-duty and two retired Marines.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 9, 2026
“We’re the Wall Street of the data centre industry,” says Ms Bolthouse, who is a director of local Virginian charity and campaign group Piedmont Environmental Council.
From BBC • Nov. 3, 2024
The former coach, a native West Virginian, is a longtime friend of retiring Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and endorsed him in his 2018 reelection.
From Slate • Feb. 19, 2024
Byrd’s father, who had also been a powerful state politician, had helped fellow Virginian Woodrow Wilson win the White House in 1912.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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.
