Karen

¹ American  

[kuh-ren] / kəˈrɛn /

noun

plural

Karens,

plural

Karen

1. a group of people of eastern and southern Myanmar (Burma).

2. one of these people.

3. the language of the Karen, a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sino-Tibetan family.

---

adjective

1. of or relating to the Karen people or their language.

Karen ² American  

[kar-uhn, kahr-] / ˈkær ən, ˈkɑr- /

noun

1. Also Karin a first name, form of Katherine.

2. Informal: Disparaging.

   1. a white, usually middle-class woman who is rude, demanding, and aggressive toward other people, particularly customer service workers.

   2. a person acting in an aggressive, entitled, rude way.

      He went full Karen on the poor store manager and threatened to get her fired.

---

Karen British  

/ kəˈrɛn /

noun

1. a member of a Thai people of Myanmar

2. the language of this people, probably related to Thai and belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family

---

Example Sentences

Earlier in April, Dow appointed Karen Carter to succeed long-time Chief Executive Jim Fitterling, who has been at the company’s helm since August 2018 and board chair since April 2020.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

Karen Betts, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation recently predicted that "food inflation will reach at least 9% by December".

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

"The one-person company is a product of the AI era," said Karen Dai, founder of Shanghai-based SoloNest, which hosts weekend events for solo entrepreneurs.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

Karen Slack had been a stay-at-home mom during her 22-year marriage, then suddenly had to go out and find a traditional job.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

Matt and Karen hung pots and pans on nails in the pantry.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy