Indonesian
Americannoun
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a member of the ethnic group consisting of the natives of Indonesia, the Filipinos, and the Malays of Malaysia.
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a member of a population supposed to have been resident in the Malay Archipelago before the Malays, and believed to constitute one element of the present mixed population of Malaysia and perhaps Polynesia.
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Official Name Bahasa Indonesia. an Indonesian language that is based on the form of Malay spoken in Java and has the status of official language in the Republic of Indonesia.
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the westernmost branch of the Austronesian family of languages, including Malay, Indonesian, Tagalog, and Malagasy.
adjective
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of or relating to the Malay Archipelago.
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of or relating to Indonesia, the Indonesians, or their languages.
adjective
noun
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a native or inhabitant of Indonesia
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another name for Bahasa Indonesia
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Indonesian
First recorded in 1840–50; Indonesi(a) + -an
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some people screamed "hysterically" as the trains collided, one passenger told the BBC's Indonesian service.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
The Wikimedia Foundation said Saturday it has found a compromise with the Indonesian government, which had threatened to block Wikipedia over domestic registration rules the foundation feared were overly invasive.
From Barron's • Apr. 25, 2026
The brokerage conservatively expects the Indonesian company’s 2026 net profit to grow threefold this year, based on locked-in charter rates in May through mid-June at levels above 2025 averages, and incremental vessel additions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
Additionally, the bank’s structural exposure to the Indonesian government-subsidized mortgage segment provides volume visibility.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
For example, the decorated Ta-p’en-k’eng pottery on Taiwan gave way to undecorated plain or red pottery, which has also been found at sites in the Philippines and on the Indonesian islands of Celebes and Timor.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.