Hawaiian

American  

[huh-wahy-uhn, -wah-yuhn] / həˈwaɪ ən, -ˈwɑ jən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Hawaii or the Hawaiian Islands.

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noun

• Hawaiians
  plural

1. a native or inhabitant of Hawaii or the Hawaiian Islands.

2. the aboriginal language of Hawaii, a Polynesian language.

Hawaiian British  

/ həˈwaɪən /

adjective

1. of or relating to Hawaii, its people, or their language

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Hawaii, esp one descended from Melanesian or Tahitian immigrants

2. a language of Hawaii belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian family

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Hawaiians
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Hawaiian

First recorded in 1815–25; Hawaii + -an

Compare meaning

How does hawaiian compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Polynesian vs. Hawaiian

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Hawaiian Hawaiians

Further east, in the island of Oahu which is home to the capital Honolulu, there were more than 20,000 customers without power, according to Hawaiian Electric.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Hunks of sourdough or Texas toast, torn cornbread muffins or classic white sandwich bread, Hawaiian rolls or challah: all solid choices.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

I used to mob all throughout Carson, eating Hawaiian food.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

Native Hawaiian women already have some of the highest breast cancer rates among women in the United States.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

Jonboy was a refrigerator-size man wearing a silk Hawaiian shirt that would fit me like a tent.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

The lack of stigma among the Hawaiians, we learn, is cause for colonial concern: Father Damien’s death becomes a local scandal, and provokes a moral panic among the American businessmen who had bought Hawaiian land.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

"They underscore why it is so important to move beyond treating Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders as a single population."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

He then urged his fellow Hawaiians to check in on their local communities and do what they can to support their neighbors.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 30, 2026

Many Hawaiians have heeded official advice to leave coastal areas, after a powerful earthquake thousands of miles away near Russia prompted a tsunami warning in the US state and other parts of the Pacific.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2025

Instead of standard English, everyone spoke Hawaiian Pidgin, a language mash-up created by Hawaiians and early Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, and American immigrants.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge