Choctaw

American  

[chok-taw] / ˈtʃɒk tɔ /

noun

plural

Choctaws,

plural

Choctaw

1. a member of a large Muskhogean tribe of North American Indians, formerly living chiefly in southern Mississippi, now in Oklahoma.

2. the language of the Choctaw, closely related to Chickasaw.

3. Informal: Offensive. something unintelligible, as speech, illegible handwriting, or an ineffectual explanation; gibberish.

   My best efforts at clarity were Choctaw to him.

4. Figure Skating. choctaw, a type of turn that changes the skater’s orientation in either direction, from skating forward to backward or backward to forward, with a change of foot from right to left or left to right, and a change of edge from outside to inside or inside to outside.

   The quickstep compulsory dance requires a choctaw from the forward outside edge of the skating foot to the backward inside edge of the other foot.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Choctaw or their language.

Choctaw ¹ British  

/ ˈtʃɒktɔː /

noun

1. a member of a Native American people of Alabama

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

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choctaw ² British  

/ ˈtʃɒktɔː /

noun

1. skating a turn from the inside edge of one skate to the outside edge of the other or vice versa

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Etymology

Origin of Choctaw

First recorded in 1720–30; from Choctaw chahta, a self-designation of unknown meaning

Example Sentences

Manning is Nisei and Choctaw and her husband, Antonio, is African American, and she found Altadena to reflect the community she wanted to be a part of.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

From the presence of the Indigenous Choctaw people to the segregated sides of the same street, Coogler paints a picture of 1930s America with a documentarian’s brush.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2026

Titled “the space in which to place me,” the show is a mini-survey of the rapturous art of the queer Choctaw and Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson.

From New York Times • Apr. 13, 2024

Margaret McMurtrey, a graduate student at UC Santa Barbara, who is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, said she was “disappointed” in Gross’ response.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 3, 2024

Plastic clattered on concrete, and someone cursed in . . . was that Choctaw?

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith