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Hawaiian

American  
[huh-wahy-uhn, -wah-yuhn] / həˈwaɪ ən, -ˈwɑ jən /

adjective

  1. of or relating to Hawaii or the Hawaiian Islands.


noun

  • Hawaiians
    plural
  1. a native or inhabitant of Hawaii or the Hawaiian Islands.

  2. the aboriginal language of Hawaii, a Polynesian language.

Hawaiian British  
/ həˈwaɪən /

adjective

  1. of or relating to Hawaii, its people, or their language

"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

noun

  1. a native or inhabitant of Hawaii, esp one descended from Melanesian or Tahitian immigrants

  2. a language of Hawaii belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian family

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of Hawaiian

First recorded in 1815–25; Hawaii + -an


Compare meaning

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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:

He was meeting with two executives and a lobbyist from a Hawaiian naval defense contractor called Navatek.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

On Tuesday, though, ProPublica published a much-discussed investigation into the Collins team’s relationship with Martin Kao, the former CEO of a Hawaiian defense contractor.

From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2026

Further east, in the island of Oahu which is home to the capital Honolulu, there were more than 20,000 customers without power, according to Hawaiian Electric.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Hunks of sourdough or Texas toast, torn cornbread muffins or classic white sandwich bread, Hawaiian rolls or challah: all solid choices.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

Social complexity again reached its peak in the Hawaiian Archipelago, where people of chiefly descent were divided into eight hierarchically ranked lineages.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

The lack of stigma among the Hawaiians, we learn, is cause for colonial concern: Father Damien’s death becomes a local scandal, and provokes a moral panic among the American businessmen who had bought Hawaiian land.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

"They underscore why it is so important to move beyond treating Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders as a single population."

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

He then urged his fellow Hawaiians to check in on their local communities and do what they can to support their neighbors.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 30, 2026

So, museums have started returning human remains from communities such as the Maori tribes of New Zealand, the Mudan warriors of Taiwan, the Aboriginal people of Australia and the Native Hawaiians.

From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2024

Instead of standard English, everyone spoke Hawaiian Pidgin, a language mash-up created by Hawaiians and early Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, and American immigrants.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

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