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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Indonesian policymakers have implemented a string of rate increases this year to support the faltering rupiah and fragile economic growth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Separately, the Indonesian branch of Interpol has identified the Singaporean adoption agency that handled the babies.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
One woman on trial, who is accused of falsely declaring she is the biological mother of some of the babies, is listed as Marcus's mother in his Indonesian adoption papers.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
In April, Indonesian Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa floated the idea of charging vessels to cross the strait, but later backtracked.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
The Jomon language of Kyushu may instead have shared a common ancestor with the Austronesian language family, which includes Polynesian and Indonesian languages and the Aboriginal languages of Taiwan.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The group of 20 hikers, a mix of Singaporeans and Indonesians, had climbed to the summit despite previous warnings against such activity.
From BBC ● May 11, 2026
The three victims were part of a group of 20 Singaporeans and Indonesians hiking on the mountain despite restrictions.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
Everyone is doomed in Mr. Diaz’s account of European colonialism and exploratory naval history—not just the primitive Filipinos and Indonesians but the Portuguese on the mission from their silent God.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Foreign Minister Sugiono, who like many Indonesians only has one name, told reporters on Saturday that Indonesia wanted a thorough UN investigation, and demanded better security guarantees for peacekeeping soldiers.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026
Why did Austronesian people, stemming ultimately from mainland China, colonize Java and the rest of Indonesia and replace the original inhabitants there, instead of Indonesians colonizing China and replacing the Chinese?
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
