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Red Indian

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noun Older Use: Disparaging and Offensive.

a contemptuous term used to refer to a North American Indian.

Origin of Red Indian

First recorded in 1825–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for red indian

Historical Examples of red indian

  • It was butcher's work, quick and skilful, like red-Indian scalping.

    Now It Can Be Told

    Philip Gibbs

  • Dick's mother followed him obediently, and was very Red-Indian.

  • To think that you are tied hard and fast—irrevocably—to—a red-Indian—a painted savage—a Hottentot.

    The Big Otter

    R.M. Ballantyne

  • Such horrible shrieks and appalling yells would startle a Red-Indian war-whoop into fits.

    In Eastern Seas

    J. J. Smith

  • Pemmican—that early form of potted meat so familiar to the readers of Red-Indian romances—was made of the lean meat of the bison.

    Pioneers in Canada

    Sir Harry Johnston

British Dictionary definitions for red indian

Red Indian

noun, adjective

an old-fashioned name, now considered highly offensive, for Native American

Word Origin for Red Indian

see redskin
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