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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

African American African-American

Graves told ProPublica that he had high regard for Bunch — “his accomplishment with the African American museum was remarkable” — but that he became worried that the Smithsonian was operating within a bubble.

From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026

Rebecca completed her bachelor’s degree at Harvard College, where she studied philosophy and African American studies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

His career accomplishments include founding the National Museum of African American History and Culture and authoring numerous books, including one on the NMAAHC's creation.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

A former straight-A student who had dropped out of high school, he had embarked on a program of self-education, reading deeply in African American history, Greek philosophy, finance and other subjects.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

“New Negro” quickly came to mean an African American who refused to obey the discriminatory laws under which pre-World War I blacks were forced to live.

From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler

Gregory Glass, a 47-year-old restaurant owner, himself an African-American, said a victory for Colom would be "historic" but admitted to having "bittersweet" feelings about that.

From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2026

African-American and Asian caregivers faced much higher costs than white ones.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026

Mr. Rogers thinks some of these voters are ripe for defection: “The African-American community of Michigan has felt a little bit abandoned” by the Democratic Party.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

"His background is everything - European, African-American, Hispanic and indigenous as well," he says.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

Blues scales, used in blues, jazz, and other African-American traditions, grew out of a compromise between European and African scales.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

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