Cherokee

American  

[cher-uh-kee, cher-uh-kee] / ˈtʃɛr əˌki, ˌtʃɛr əˈki /

noun

plural

Cherokees,

plural

Cherokee

1. a member of an important tribe of North American Indians whose first known center was in the southern Alleghenies and who presently live in North Carolina and Oklahoma.

2. the Iroquoian language of the Cherokee, written since 1822 in a syllabic script invented for the language by Sequoya.

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Cherokee British  

/ ˌtʃɛrəˈkiː, ˈtʃɛrəˌkiː /

noun

1. a member of a Native American people formerly living in and around the Appalachian Mountains, now chiefly in Oklahoma; one of the Iroquois peoples

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Iroquoian family

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Example Sentences

“It takes away a little bit of the handling,” the North Canton, Ohio resident said of his 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee as it starts back up.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

A member of the Cherokee Nation, the 48-year-old Republican senator from the central state of Oklahoma is currently the only Native American serving in the US Senate.

From Barron's • Mar. 5, 2026

A member of the Cherokee Nation, he’s rich, having taken over, expanded, and then sold what was originally his father’s plumbing business.

From Slate • Mar. 5, 2026

An award-winning Canadian-American author whose career was tied to his apparent indigenous ancestry has recently learned that he has no Cherokee roots.

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025

Before the European settlers arrived and killed off most of the indigenous people, Greenbrier County was part of the Can-tuc-kee territory, where the Shawnee and Cherokee peoples lived.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson