Rastafarian

American  

[ras-tuh-fair-ee-uhn, -fahr-, rah-stuh-] / ˌræs təˈfɛər i ən, -ˈfɑr-, ˌrɑ stə- /

noun

1. a follower of Rastafarianism.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Rastafarianism or Rastafarians.

Rastafarian British  

/ ˌræstəˈfɛərɪən /

noun

1. a member of an originally Jamaican religion that regards Ras Tafari (the former emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie) as God

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adjective

1. of, characteristic of, or relating to the Rastafarians

Etymology

Origin of Rastafarian

First recorded in 1935; from Amharic ras täfäri “Prince Tafari,” the pre-coronation name of Haile Selassie ( ras “prince,” originally, “head”; täfäri an Amharic personal name, literally, “(one to be) feared, respected,” present participle from passive stem of the verb färra “fear, respect”) + -an

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Rastafarian

Landor told a guard there that he was Rastafarian and shared a copy of a ruling in which a court of appeals found that cutting the hair of a Rastafarian in prison violated RLUIPA.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

Damon Landor is a Louisiana man who follows the Rastafarian faith.

From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026

He had with him a copy of a federal appeals court opinion that said Rastafarian inmates had a protected religious right to wear dreadlocks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

The decision stemmed from a case where Louisiana prison guards forcibly shaved Rastafarian Damon Landor’s dreadlocks in 2020.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

The famous reggae singer Bob Marley was himself a Rastafarian and helped spread the word beyond the Jamaican shores.

From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon

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