Caribbean
Americanadjective
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of or relating to the islands or region of the Caribbean Sea, or to its inhabitants.
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of or relating to the Carib people.
noun
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the Caribbean Sea.
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the Caribbean, the islands and countries of the Caribbean Sea collectively.
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a native or inhabitant of a Caribbean country.
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a Carib.
adjective
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of, or relating to, the Caribbean Sea and its islands
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of, or relating to, the Carib or any of their languages
noun
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the states and islands of the Caribbean Sea, including the West Indies, when considered as a geopolitical region
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short for the Caribbean Sea
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a member of any of the peoples inhabiting the islands of the Caribbean Sea, such as a West Indian or a Carib
Usage
Caribbean is used as a plural noun (a candidate favored by Caribbeans ), but it's relatively rare as a singular noun (the candidate who is a Caribbean ).
Other Word Forms
- inter-Caribbean adjective
Etymology
Origin of Caribbean
First recorded in 1650–60; from New Latin Carib(b)aeus, adjective formed from New Latin plural noun Caribes, from Spanish and Portuguese singular noun caribe Carib ( def. ); cannibal ( def. ), caribe ( def. )
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.
For decades, González and his wife, Mercedes Cruz, have run a popular weekly dance night in a historic social hall in one of Havana’s oldest neighborhoods, a few blocks from the Caribbean Sea.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026
Tree sloths once lived in the Caribbean but disappeared after humans arrived.
From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026
Meanwhile Carnival trades at 10.5 times forward earnings, Royal Caribbean Group trades at 14.4 times, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings trades at 7.6 times.
From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026
That October, intelligence agents transported the oil executives from the Helicoide jail in Caracas to an airstrip on a tiny Caribbean island in the Grenadines.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
Colonel Aureliano Buendía’s men proclaimed him chief of the revolutionary forces of the Caribbean coast with the rank of general.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
