Dinka
Americannoun
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Dinkas,
plural
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Dinka
plural
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a member of a tall, pastoral people of Sudan.
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the language of the Dinka, a Nilotic language closely related to Shilluk.
noun
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a member of a Nilotic people of South Sudan, noted for their height, which often reaches seven feet tall: chiefly herdsmen
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the language of this people, belonging to the Nilotic group of the Nilo-Saharan family
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Dinka
from Dinka jieng people
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.
See Examples For:
The conflict in has largely pitted the two largest ethnic groups against each other -- the Dinka aligned mostly with Kiir, and the Nuer mostly with Machar.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
The region’s majority Ngok Dinka people favor South Sudan, while the Misseriya nomads who come to Abyei to find pasture for their cattle favor Sudan.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 6, 2023
The country, over the last years, has seen the limits of the peace deal forged between South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and his Nuer deputy, Riek Machar.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 4, 2023
Kiir comes from South Sudan's largest ethnic group, the Dinka.
From Reuters ● Feb. 3, 2023
Again, part of that was just Dinka custom.
From "Lost Boy, Lost Girl" by John Bul Dau
The town of Malakal, for example, changed hands roughly a dozen times during the course of the civil war and is now controlled by Dinkas.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2016
But they did — first the Dinkas and then, much more slowly, the Nuer.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 6, 2015
The U.N. hasn’t spelled out clearly who exactly the victims were, but it is likely that ethnic Dinkas were among the dead.
From Time ● Apr. 23, 2014
The recent unrest has pitted gangs from the Nuer ethnic group of Mr Machar against Dinkas - the majority group to which Mr Kiir belongs.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2013
The Dinkas, for instance, are a rather intelligent well-grown people inhabiting the upper reaches of the Nile in the vicinity of the great swamps.
From Pagan and Christian creeds: their origin and meaning by Edward Carpenter
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