first-generation
Americanadjective
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being the first generation of a family to be born in a particular country.
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being a naturalized citizen of a particular country; immigrant.
the child of first-generation Americans.
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.
“If you wait until after you graduate,” said Castellano, a first-generation college student whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Ecuador and Venezuela, “all the good ideas are going to be already taken.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026
A first-generation college student of Haitian and Dominican descent, she took out loans for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, but it was her pursuit of a doctorate that really shot up her balance.
From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026
"Despite both athletes sharing similar racial backgrounds and first-generation immigrant experiences," Prof He says, "they have been cast as opposing archetypes in a narrative they didn't write".
From BBC • Feb. 13, 2026
Toyota's "Superhero Belt" traces a grandfather-grandson relationship across three decades, bookended by rides in a first-generation and the latest RAV4.
From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026
A first-generation Norwegian American, Lars Kristiansen looked like a real-life Paul Bunyan, complete with blue jeans, a red plaid shirt, and a bushy brown beard.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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.
