Tibetan

American  

[ti-bet-n] / tɪˈbɛt n /

Or Thibetan

adjective

1. of or relating to Tibet, its inhabitants, or their language.

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noun

1. a member of the people native to or inhabiting Tibet.

2. the Sino-Tibetan language of Tibet, especially in its standard literary form.

Tibetan British  

/ tɪˈbɛtən /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Tibet, its people, or their language

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Tibet

2. the language of Tibet, belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family

Etymology

Origin of Tibetan

First recorded in 1740–50; Tibet + -an

Example Sentences

The 90-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has been based in India since fleeing the Tibetan capital Lhasa after Chinese troops crushed an uprising in 1959.

From Barron's • Jul. 3, 2026

Some 150 miles from the Tibetan border, in Dharamshala, India, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile stand as a vision of hope and inspiration to the rest of the world.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2026

For Tibetan Buddhism, in which language is inseparable from culture and community, this amounts to state-directed erasure.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 28, 2026

Gere has been involved in humanitarian work for decades and has helped fund projects to support refugees, public health, education and emergency relief as well as culture, especially in Tibetan communities.

From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026

Far below, down a side of the mountain I had never laid eyes on, the dry Tibetan plateau stretched to the horizon as a boundless expanse of dun- colored earth.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer