Japanese

[jap-uh-neez, -nees]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Japan, its people, or their language.

noun

plural

Japanese 

1. Often Offensive.,  a native or inhabitant of Japan or a person of Japanese descent.

2. the language of Japan. Japn., Japn

Japanese

/ ˌdʒæpəˈniːz /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Japan, its people, or their language

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Japan or a descendant of one

2. the official language of Japan: the native language of approximately 100 million people: considered by some scholars to be part of the Altaic family of languages

Sensitive Note

In the past, the word Japanese has been used as a noun to describe a person or people (the store owner is a Japanese ). This usage is dated and often considered offensive today.

Other Word Forms

• anti-Japanese adjective anti-Japanese
• non-Japanese adjective non-Japanese
• pro-Japanese adjective pro-Japanese
• pseudo-Japanese adjective pseudo-Japanese
• quasi-Japanese adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Japanese¹

First recorded in 1580–90; Japan + -ese

Example Sentences

Born Tomas Straussler in Czechoslovakia, his parents fled from imminent Nazi occupation when he was still a baby and went to Singapore, where his father died in a Japanese prison camp.

Read more on BBC

Japanese "One Piece" singer Maki Otsuki was forced to halt her performance on stage in Shanghai, her management said, one of the latest events hit by a diplomatic spat between Tokyo and Beijing.

Read more on Barron's

"I'd go to a Japanese buffet, eat six pieces of sushi and feel like I'd had a whole rack of ribs."

Read more on BBC

Tom and his mother and brother had escaped ahead of the Japanese invasion and went first to Australia, later to India.

Read more on BBC

She was re-elected to Congress in 1941 and argued against America joining the fight in World War II. But the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor later that year galvanized the country.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal