ngai

/ (əŋˈɡɑːiː) /

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prefix

NZ clan or tribe: used before the names of certain Māori tribesNgai Tahu

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Word Origin for ngai

Māori

Words nearby ngai

NFU, NFWI, ng, NGA, Ngadju, ngai, ngaio, Ngaliema, Ngaliema Mountain, Ngami, ngarara

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use ngai in a sentence

What makes Ngai's discussion novel is her application of the "cute" to highbrow poetry.
Zany, Cute, Interesting: What the Words We Use Say About Us|Benjamin Lytal|October 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Once you read Ngai's account of it, you'll see "zany" everywhere.
Zany, Cute, Interesting: What the Words We Use Say About Us|Benjamin Lytal|October 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Characteristically, Ngai adduces two very different examples of the zany: Lucille Ball and Friedrich Nietzsche.
Zany, Cute, Interesting: What the Words We Use Say About Us|Benjamin Lytal|October 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Indeed what's most depressing about Ngai's terms is their smallness, their triviality.
Zany, Cute, Interesting: What the Words We Use Say About Us|Benjamin Lytal|October 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST

For Ngai, the zany is an aesthetic about the withering of sensibility.
Zany, Cute, Interesting: What the Words We Use Say About Us|Benjamin Lytal|October 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The tu, of course, is non-radical, the Gudang form being ngai.
Opuscula|Robert Gordon Latham
So Ko-Ngai returned home sorrowful at heart; but she kept secret all that she had heard, and told no one what she had done.
Some Chinese Ghosts|Lafcadio Hearn
Natta ngai padlo ngaityarniappi; watteyernaurlo tappandi ngaityo parni tatti.
Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central Australia And Overland|Edward John Eyre
Apparently all those people, being Ngai-Tai, were of one tribal identity.
The City of Auckland|John Barr
Much etiquette was observed in the method of our admission into Hoa Ngai.
Intimate China|Mrs. Archibald Little