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boat people

American

plural noun

refugees who have fled a country by boat, usually without sufficient provisions, navigational aids, or a set destination, especially those who left Indochina by sea as a result of the fall of South Vietnam in 1975.

boat people British

plural noun

refugees, esp from Vietnam in the late 1970s, who leave by boat hoping to be picked up by ships of another country

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of boat people

First recorded in 1975–80

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.

Let’s give British Jews the same chance America once gave Irish famine victims, Russian dissidents, Vietnamese boat people, and Afghan translators.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 26, 2025

The rescue came days after Malta was criticised by a senior Italian politician as well as charities Alarm Phone and Sea Watch for failing to rescue boat people in its search and rescue zone.

From Reuters • Apr. 17, 2023

The tragic flight of the boat people is also a reminder of Vietnam's fraught relationship with its giant neighbour China.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2023

However, only people being towed behind a boat, people on motor-powered personal watercraft and children 12 years or younger on moving boats 19 feet or smaller have to wear them.

From Seattle Times • May 20, 2022

Around me the newly arrived boat people talk excitedly to their friends and family, and deliver them news of relatives in Vietnam.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023