Inuit
Americannoun
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Inuits,
plural
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Inuit
plural
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a member of a group of Indigenous peoples inhabiting northernmost North America from northern Alaska to eastern Canada and Greenland.
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the language of the Inuit, a member of the Eskimo-Aleut family comprising a variety of dialects.
noun
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any of several Native peoples of N America or Greenland, as distinguished from those from Asia or the Aleutian Islands (who are still generally referred to as Eskimos); the preferred term for Eskimo in N America Compare Yupik
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the language of these peoples; Inuktitut
Sensitive Note
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Inuit
First recorded in 1755–65; from Inuit: literally, “people,” plural of inuk “person”
Compare meaning
How does inuit compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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:
No news regarding the coming fall season has made me happier than the return of this sunny, aspirational Indigenous comedy, set in a small town among the Inuit people in Nunavut, Canada’s northernmost territory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
Two reports on the practice were released on Friday, a year after Denmark apologised for the treatment of Inuit women and girls in its autonomous territory.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
"And once again, I see that it is others who will investigate and define what was done to me and to other Inuit women."
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Fieldwork and logistics were supported by multiple organizations in Nunavut, with permits granted by territorial authorities and the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 24, 2026
For all we knew, he could have been a small Inuit woman living in Anchorage, Alaska, who had adopted this appearance and voice to make her students more receptive to her lessons.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
He had brought smallpox with him, and the disease raced around the island, killing Inuits and Europeans alike.
From Science Magazine ● Sep. 26, 2023
The Inuits, now in their 70s, are the surviving members of the group of 22 children who were removed from their homes to be educated as "little Danes".
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2021
On April 6, 1909, American explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson and four Inuits became the first men to reach the North Pole.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 6, 2021
Based on the novel of the same name by Dan Simmons, the 10-episode series features ice, Inuits, hubris, hunger and a mysterious polar predator.
From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2018
The Inuits could not cross to the mainland, the ice was too rotten, and they remained in King William Land all summer.
From Schwatka's Search by William H. (William Henry) Gilder
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.
