Caucasian

American  

[kaw-kay-zhuhn, -shuhn, -kazh-uhn, -kash-] / kɔˈkeɪ ʒən, -ʃən, -ˈkæʒ ən, -ˈkæʃ- /

adjective

1. Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) of, relating to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, marked by fair to dark skin, straight to tightly curled hair, and light to very dark eyes, and originally inhabiting Europe, parts of North Africa, western Asia, and India.

2. white.

   a brown-haired Caucasian female with a tattoo on her left shoulder.

3. of or relating to the Caucasus mountain range.

4. Linguistics. of or related to the non-Indo-European, non-Turkic languages of the Caucasus region.

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noun

• Caucasians
  plural

1. Anthropology. (no longer in technical use) a member of the peoples traditionally classified as the Caucasian race, especially those peoples having light to fair skin.

2. a white person.

   The chef at this awesome new Indian restaurant is actually a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian from Montana.

3. a native of Caucasia.

Caucasian British  

/ kɔːˈkeɪzɪən, -ʒən /

adjective

1. old-fashioned another word for Caucasoid

2. of or relating to the Caucasus

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noun

1. a White person; a Caucasoid

2. a native or inhabitant of Caucasia

3. any of three possibly related families of languages spoken in the Caucasus: North-West Caucasian, including Circassian and Abkhaz, North-East Caucasian , including Avar, and South Caucasian including Georgian

Usage

The word Caucasian is very widely used in the US to refer to people of European origin or people who are White, even though the original classification was broader than this

Pop Culture

— The Caucasian Chalk Circle: A 1944 modernist play by German playwright Bertolt Brecht. — Caucasian Review of International Affairs: An academic journal dealing with the Caucasus region, published quarterly. —Caucasian Ovcharka: A breed of dogs, also called the Caucasian Shepherd.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• non-Caucasian
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Caucasians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Caucasian

First recorded in 1800–10; from Latin Caucas(eus), Caucas(ius), derivative of Caucasus, from Greek Kaúkasos; + -ian adjective suffix; see Caucasus, -ian

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Caucasian Caucasians

Most existing studies have concentrated on Caucasian participants, which may limit how broadly their findings apply.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 3, 2026

A “regular, like, Caucasian man,” as described by Tyler, the Creator, the beloved, chart-topping Los Angeles rapper.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025

One well known example was a 2019 US government study which found that facial recognition algorithms were far less accurate at identifying African-American and Asian faces compared to Caucasian faces.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2025

“It is the moment I realized that if I want to stay in America, I have to do a movie about Caucasian people,” said Phanxinê, who goes by a one-name moniker professionally.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 15, 2024

Ray, a few years older, played in the six-man touch football league, sometimes against Caucasian teams who would come in from Lone Pine or Independence.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

Studies have found South Asians, including Indians, tend to have more body fat than white Caucasians at the same Body Mass Index.

From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2025

"However, Dr. McGonagle was noting this explosive trend of cases in Caucasians."

From Science Daily ● May 9, 2024

African Americans held 9% of officer roles in the U.S., while 72.4% of the roles were held by Caucasians.

From Reuters ● Jun. 30, 2023

Among the mysteries is that Black Americans have significantly higher rates of Alzheimer’s than Caucasians.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 21, 2021

They were as frightened of the Caucasians as Caucasians were of us.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston