a member of a large Muskhogean tribe of North American Indians, formerly living chiefly in southern Mississippi, now in Oklahoma.
the language of the Choctaw, closely related to Chickasaw.
Informal: Offensive. something unintelligible, as speech, illegible handwriting, or an ineffectual explanation; gibberish.
My best efforts at clarity were Choctaw to him.
Figure Skating. choctaw, a type of turn that changes the skater’s orientation in either direction, from skating forward to backward or backward to forward, with a change of foot from right to left or left to right, and a change of edge from outside to inside or inside to outside.
The quickstep compulsory dance requires a choctaw from the forward outside edge of the skating foot to the backward inside edge of the other foot.
a member of a Native American people of Alabama
the language of this people, belonging to the Muskogean family
First recorded in 1720–30; from Choctaw chahta, a self-designation of unknown meaning
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Manning is Nisei and Choctaw and her husband, Antonio, is African American, and she found Altadena to reflect the community she wanted to be a part of.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2026
Titled “the space in which to place me,” the show is a mini-survey of the rapturous art of the queer Choctaw and Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson.
From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2024
Margaret McMurtrey, a graduate student at UC Santa Barbara, who is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, said she was “disappointed” in Gross’ response.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2024
The Benedict family, who have roots in the Choctaw Nation, welcomed discussions and questions of gender and identity, the Independent reported.
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2024
An intellectually disabled black woman living in Choctaw County, Alabama, Ms. Banks was accused of killing her newborn child even though police had no credible basis for believing she had ever been pregnant.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Ron Cratenhad had a 17-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for the Choctaws.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 24, 2022
Stough said the Choctaws were skilled warriors who often caught the British soldiers by surprise.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 12, 2020
The new policy applied to all the eastern tribes but especially affected the “Five Civilized Tribes” of the Southeast: the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
Somehow, somewhere in Louisiana, a few Choctaws escaped and traveled south, mingling with white settlers and members of other tribes, mixing their traditions with new practices picked up on the coast.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2017
Before leaving Vincennes, Tecumseh informed Harrison that he was traveling south to bring the Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws into the alliance.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
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.
