Navajo

American  

[nav-uh-hoh, nah-vuh-] / ˈnæv əˌhoʊ, ˈnɑ və- /

Or Navaho

noun

• Navajos,
  plural
• Navajoes,
  plural
• Navajo
  plural

1. Also called Diné. a member of the most populous nation of the southern division of Athabascan Native Americans, located in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, and now constituting the largest tribal group in the United States.

2. the Athabascan language of the Navajo.

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adjective

1. Also of, relating to, or characteristic of the Navajo, their language, or their culture.

   a Navajo blanket.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Navajo
  plural
• Navajoes
  plural
• Navajos
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Navajo

First recorded in 1800–10; from American Spanish Apaches de Nabajú “Apaches of Nabajú” (Navajo and several Apachean languages are mutually intelligible), originally a place name applied to the Largo Canyon region of the Four Corners area of northwest New Mexico, from Tewa navahu “large arroyo with cultivated fields”; see also Diné ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Navajo Navajoes Navajos

Closer to Lake Powell, the Drought Severity Evaluation Tool, co-developed with the Navajo Nation, allows leaders to track localized drought indicators, precipitation patterns, and vegetation health across tribal lands.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

In addition to San Diego County, its partners include the California Department of Public Health, the Navajo Nation and organizations across the broader Insight Net network.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

“In the beginning there was nothing but Spider Woman,” say Navajo and Pueblo elders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

A pre-trial conference and release hearing is scheduled for March 17 in Navajo County.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025

Some of those white traders’ children even learned to speak Navajo pretty well—at least much better than their parents.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac

It was the horse-tread of the approaching Navajoes!

From The Scalp Hunters by F.A. Stewart

Navajoes now number 9,114, an increase of 880 over last year's enumeration.

From The Indian Question (1874) by Francis Amasa Walker

These were guests, who had come in from other villages of the Navajoes that lay farther to the north.

From The Scalp Hunters by F.A. Stewart

A chief of the Navajoes, the descendants of the great Montezuma; the son of their king!”

From The Scalp Hunters by F.A. Stewart

A cry of singular import burst from the Navajoes as they beheld these new proofs of their discomfiture.

From The Scalp Hunters by F.A. Stewart

The tribal official urged Navajos to carry state-issued identification or their “Certificate of Indian blood.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026

According to their creation story, Navajos were born out of the same earth and stone.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2024

It also wasn’t broadly supported by Navajos and Hopis who saw negotiations as secretive, leading to a loose effort to recall then-Navajo President Ben Shelly and then-Hopi Chairman LeRoy Shingoitewa.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024

“The Navajos do not contend that the United States has interfered with their access to water,” he wrote.

From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

No matter what it was, whether it was the obstacle course or crawling under barbed wire while real bullets were fired over us, we Navajos were just about the best.

From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac