Irish
Americanadjective
noun
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the inhabitants of Ireland and their descendants elsewhere.
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the aboriginal Celtic-speaking people of Ireland.
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Also called Irish Gaelic. the Celtic language of Ireland in its historical or modern form. Ir, Ir.
idioms
adjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of Ireland, its people, their Celtic language, or their dialect of English
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informal ludicrous or illogical
noun
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(functioning as plural) the natives or inhabitants of Ireland
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another name for Irish Gaelic
Sensitive Note
See Irish pennant.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Irish
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English Yrisse, Iris(c)h; compare Old English Īras people of Ireland (cognate with Old Norse Īrar ); see -ish 1
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.
"I didn't know it was a comedy at first," exclaims the Irish actor.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
Eleven Irish traditional musicians stood side-by-side in elaborate costumes, some meeting for the first time only hours before the performance.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
Born in New Jersey to the an Irish mother and an Italian-American father who ran a tyre store, he left school at 16 to try his hand at acting and dancing.
From Barron's • May 15, 2026
The competition features no Irish entrant and national broadcaster RTÉ will not be showing events from Austria, airing a Eurovision-themed episode of sitcom Father Ted instead.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
At first I felt pretty good about not letting Selena get the best of me, even though my Irish spring joke was kind of corny.
From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez
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.
