ninja

American  

[nin-juh] / ˈnɪn dʒə /

noun

plural

ninja, ninjas

1. (often initial capital letter) a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenary agents highly trained in martial arts and stealth ninjutsu, who were hired for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination.

2. a person who is expert or highly skilled in a specified field or activity (often used attributively).

   marketing ninjas; ninja programmers.

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verb (used with object)

ninjaed, ninjaing

1. Slang. Also ninja loot (in a video game) to unfairly claim (valuable items or loot) from a treasure pool by taking them from a kill made by another player or bypassing the agreed-upon system for loot distribution in a group.

   When I ninja an epic item, I log off the server before anyone even realizes what happened.

ninja British  

/ ˈnɪndʒə /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) a person skilled in ninjutsu, a Japanese martial art characterized by stealthy movement and camouflage

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Etymology

Origin of ninja

First recorded in 1960–65; from Japanese, equivalent to nin- “endure” + -ja, combining form of -sha “person, agent” (from Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese rěn + zhě )

Example Sentences

"Background actors are like ninjas, and only ninjas can determine who else is a good ninja," Amaya told AFP.

From Barron's • Feb. 17, 2026

Luckily, the rest of the task went well, partly thanks to Mohammed, who Garraway described as a "puzzle ninja".

From BBC • Oct. 8, 2025

“But even then, success is a coin toss. Our 8-year-old could pop up like a ninja, asking for water.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2025

Mark Joseph Stern: This is a classic Kagan ninja move.

From Slate • May 16, 2025

“Then I made up sentences that used at least as many letters as there are digits in this ciphertext. Beware the ninja monkey. He likes banana bread and drives a station wagon.”

From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman