Kiowa
Americannoun
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a member of an Indigenous Great Plains tribe, now living primarily in Oklahoma.
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the language of the Kiowa, closely related to Tanoan.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Kiowa
First recorded in 1800–10; from Kiowa kɔjgwu “principal people”
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:
Lawrence, but she got to know his widow and fellow writer, Frieda, on her visits to the Kiowa Ranch that summer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
M. Scott Momaday, in his essay “The Way to Rainy Mountain,” describes his Kiowa grandmother, who “bore an image of deicide.”
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2024
As a Native beadworker enrolled in the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Greeves, 54, stitches stories onto shoes, umbrellas and deer hide canvases.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
“His Kiowa heritage was deeply meaningful to him and he devoted much of his life to celebrating and preserving Native American culture, especially the oral tradition.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2024
I wanted to tell Kiowa that he'd been a great friend, the very best, but all I could do was slap hands with the water.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
"Nope. I showed up a bit late, but neither Scan Eagle nor the Kiowas could actually see the enemy."
From Salon ● May 25, 2020
Smaller groups in the Indian Territory took similar steps, as did several bands of Comanches and Kiowas farther west.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018
Johanna, who was captured by the Kiowas as a very young girl, has been living with them for so long she can remember only fragments of her former life.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 29, 2016
The loser is exiled, precipitating a short war between the Kiowas and Comanches before the requisite happy ending.
From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2016
Recent official reports give Indian population about 80,000: Cherokees, 20,000; Choctaws, 16,500; Creeks, 14,500; Chickasaws, 7,000; Seminoles, 2,500; Osages, 2,390; Cheyennes, 3,298; Arapahoes, 2,676; Kiowas, 1,120; Pawnees, 1,438; Comanches, 1,475.
From Alden's Handy Atlas of the World by Alden, John B.
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.
