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• oriental
  oriental

  adjective

  Usually Oriental
• Oriental
  Oriental

  adjective

  (sometimes not capital) of or relating to the Orient

oriental

American  

[awr-ee-en-tl] / ˌɔr iˈɛn tl /

adjective

1. Usually Oriental

   1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Orient or the East, typically East Asia; Eastern.

      The living room had a gorgeous Oriental rug.

      In the late 1950s, the university began offering degrees in Oriental philosophy.

   2. Older Use: Often Disparaging and Offensive. (of a person or group of people) being from the East, typically East Asia; Asian.

2. of the orient, or the eastern region of the world or heavens: stars in the oriental sky.

   oriental countries;

   stars in the oriental sky.

3. Zoogeography. Oriental, belonging to a geographical division comprising southern Asia and the Malay Archipelago as far as and including the Philippines, Borneo, and Java.

   This genera has twelve Oriental species, and two Australian ones.

4. Jewelry. Also Oriental

   1. designating various gems that are varieties of corundum.

      oriental aquamarine;

      oriental ruby.

   2. fine or precious; orient.

      oriental agate;

      oriental garnet.

   3. designating certain natural saltwater pearls found especially in Asia.

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noun

• orientals
  plural

1. Older Use: Usually Disparaging and Offensive. Usually Oriental a native or inhabitant of the Orient, or East.

Oriental ¹ British  

/ ˌɔːrɪˈɛntəl /

adjective

1. (sometimes not capital) of or relating to the Orient

2. of or denoting a zoogeographical region consisting of southeastern Asia from India to Borneo, Java, and the Philippines

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noun

1. a breed of slender muscular cat with large ears, long legs, and a long tail

2. (sometimes not capital) an inhabitant, esp a native, of the Orient

oriental ² British  

/ ˌɔːrɪˈɛntəl /

adjective

1. another word for eastern Compare occidental

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Sensitive Note

Is it Asian, Asiatic, or Oriental? See Asian.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anti-Oriental
  adjective
• half-oriental
  adjective
• nonoriental
  adjective
• pseudooriental
  adjective
• quasi-oriental
  adjective
• semioriental
  adjective
• unoriental
  adjective
• orientally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• orientals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of oriental

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin orientālis, from orient-, stem of oriēns “the east, sunrise,” literally, “rising” + -ālis, adjective suffix; equivalent to orient + -al ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

oriental Oriental orientals

Zaref Atool is a dark, heavy fragrance - very much what people expect from an oriental style.

From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2024

This program is being carried out over an area that extends 1.5 miles from each site where the oriental fruit flies were trapped, according to the food and agriculture department.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2024

The pollen grains of various common plants like sunflower, morning glories, prairie hollyhock, oriental lily, evening primrose and castor bean — magnified 500 times and colorized in this image — display intricate patterns.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2022

Inside the city’s mesmerizing acropolis, French-Iranian oriental dancer Rana Gorgani twirled to Ghraichy’s piano playing.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 18, 2022

The store was called A-Z, and its dusty show windows were crammed with a weird clutter of old and exotic-looking objects—huge bronze oriental vases next to some beat-up old pots and pans.

From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

According to a short biography he apparently sent to Epstein, he studied Law and Chinese Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026

Nash Paragas, a rescuer in the eastern province of Davao Oriental, told AFP there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

From Barron's ● Jan. 7, 2026

In the middle of the bustling holiday season at New York’s five-star Mandarin Oriental hotel, Executive Chef Sylvain Delpique was overseeing a 725-person party with 1,500 sliders and 33 briskets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 13, 2025

When Lim began looking for locations, he walked into Oriental Silk on Beverly Boulevard, a silk fabric store that had been on the block since the 1970s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2025

"He was dead. On an Oriental rug, Jake. It was awful."

From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin

In fact, the ebb and flow of florals and orientals is part of a dialectic over 400 years old.

From New York Times ● May 10, 2021

True pearls, or "orientals," are formed in oysters by the deposition of concentric layers of nacre, an iridescent substance, around a microbe or some other irritant.

From Time Magazine Archive

Secrecy surpassed itself when the League Secretariat officially announced that Chinese Delegate Dr. Sze and Japanese Delegate Mr. Yoshizawa had agreed to a "truce"'-whereupon both orientals denied the official announcement.

From Time Magazine Archive

He was educated at the university of Paris, and devoted himself to the study of oriental languages, going to Italy to perfect himself in them by converse with the orientals who frequented its sea-ports.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

Among the guests was an Indian Nabob dressed in all his orientals, who in himself would have been sufficient attraction for a whole evening, had he not been totally eclipsed by the three great artists.

From In the Courts of Memory, 1858 1875; from Contemporary Letters by Hegermann-Lindencrone, L. de (Lillie de)