Sami
Americannoun
-
a member of a Finnic people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and adjacent regions.
-
any of the languages of the Sami, closely related to Finnish.
noun
-
a member of the indigenous people of Lapland
-
the language of this people, belonging to the Finno-Ugric family
adjective
Usage
The indigenous people of Lapland prefer to be called Sami, although Lapp is still in widespread use
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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:
"As an American of Egyptian descent, I felt every minute of this," Sami Elmansoury, 41, told me.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
Sami, who has run his business there for 25 years, told the BBC: "You cannot have a ceasefire from one side, it's going to be an all side or no ceasefire."
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Sami Pajari finished 46sec behind to complete the podium and make Toyota the first manufacturer since Citroen in 2010 to claim back-to-back podium lockouts in the WRC.
From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026
Did they also help you find real-life Holocaust survivors — like Sami Steigmann —that you cast as support group members?
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
He comes up sputtering and shivering, even though he’s wearing a wet suit and scuba goggles, while Sami dances around him and trash-talks.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
![]()
When Chicago-based investment firm Walton Street Capital bought Smith Tower and the Florence Building from the Seattle-based nonprofit organization Samis Foundation in 2006, the company planned to convert a portion of the tower to condos.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 8, 2023
“We’re proud of the students for responding to this call for help and we, at Samis, were honored to play a small role in supporting the mission,” says Eli Genuaer, Samis Foundation board chair.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 31, 2022
The Samis Foundation was established in 1994 by Samuel Israel z”l and is the largest Jewish philanthropy in Washington State.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2021
Many Samis would be classified as “white” in an American context, while others would be considered “Eurasian.”
From Slate ● Nov. 21, 2019
I feel it that Skolt Samis are moving forward.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2019
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.