Hispanic
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to Spanish-speaking Latin America.
the United States and its Hispanic neighbors.
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Also Hispano of or relating to people of Spanish-speaking descent: the Hispanic vote;
Hispanic students;
the Hispanic vote;
Hispanic communities.
noun
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Hispanics
plural
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Also called Hispano-American, Hispanic American. a citizen or resident of the United States who is of Spanish or Spanish-speaking Latin American descent.
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a person whose primary or native language is Spanish.
adjective
noun
Usage
Some words that describe national or ethnic identities are acceptable as plural nouns, but are more controversial as singular nouns. This is the case for Hispanic. It’s often acceptable as a plural noun (a candidate favored by Hispanics ). However, it may sometimes be less so as a singular noun (the candidate who is a Hispanic ). Such words are always perfectly appropriate as adjectives (strategies to get Hispanic voters to the polls).
his is the word most generally used in the US to refer to people of Latin American or Spanish ancestry
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Hispanic
First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin hispānicus, “Spanish”; see Hispania, -ic
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:
Higher levels of education, Hispanic ethnicity and Tricare-paid births were associated with fewer deaths.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
When I saw him at a Hispanic church in Kissimmee, he was preaching to the proverbial choir - but pitching his message with a nod to the fact that for many money is currently tight.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
The move to the Midwest was a timely decision for members of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit organization established by the White House in 1988.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
As Sergio García-Ríos, Univision’s director of polling, highlighted to me from his recent survey of Texas races, Hinojosa—despite being a Latina—wasn’t performing as well with Hispanic voters as the Democratic Senate candidate, James Talarico.
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
It was the lady in the seat behind him, a middle-aged Hispanic woman in a flowered dress.
From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers
“Latinos and Hispanics in South Texas are the embodiment of the American dream.”
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
Hispanics or Latinos were the target of the biggest increase in racially or ethnically motivated hate crimes, according to the report.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
According to a 2025 Pew poll, 30% of Black people and 27% of Hispanics have personally bet on sports in the last year, compared to just 19% of white people.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026
Since law-school enrollment generally grew over these two years, the share of seats held by blacks and Hispanics did fall marginally.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
I was usually the only Korean in a room of young Jews and Chinese and Hispanics.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
