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• African American
  African American

  noun

  an American with Black African ancestry.
• African-American
  African-American

  noun

  an American of African descent

African American

American  

[af-ri-kuhn uh-mer-i-kuhn] / ˈæf rɪ kən əˈmɛr ɪ kən /

Sometimes Aframerican

noun

1. an American with Black African ancestry.

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adjective

1. of or relating to African Americans.

2. African-American, occurring between the United States and Africa.

   Several international charities are promoting African-American cooperation in expanding access to safe drinking water.

African-American British  

noun

1. an American of African descent

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adjective

1. of or relating to Americans of African descent

Usage

During the 1980s, many Americans sought to display pride in their immigrant origins. Linguistically, this brought about a brief period of short-form hyphenated designations, like Italo-Americans and Greco-Americans. The Black community also embraced the existing term Afro-American, a label that emphasized geographical or ethnic heritage over skin color. The related label, African American, also saw an increase in use among activists in the 1970s and 1980s. African American was even more widely adopted in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s after high-profile Black leaders advocated for it, arguing, as Jesse Jackson did, that the term brought “proper historical context” and had “cultural integrity.” See Black ¹.

This is the currently preferred term in the US for people of African ancestry

Etymology

Origin of African American

An Americanism dating back to 1780–90

Example Sentences

The crew will be rounded out by African American Andre Douglas and US astronaut of Salvadoran descent Frank Rubio.

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

Many projects, like the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial and African American history museum, began as the deferred dreams of ordinary citizens.

From Slate • May 18, 2026

He previously served in the Assembly and in 1997 was the first African American elected to the city council of Gardena, a community he grew up in and where he continues to reside.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Fairfax was once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, after he was elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor in 2017, making him only the second African American elected to statewide office.

From Salon • Apr. 16, 2026

This strategy worked to some extent for a segment of the African American community, particularly those who had access to education and relative privilege.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander