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  • Scandinavian
    Scandinavian
    adjective
    of or relating to Scandinavia, its inhabitants, or their languages.
  • scandinavian
    scandinavian
    adjective
    of, relating to, or characteristic of Scandinavia, its inhabitants, or their languages

Scandinavian

American  
[skan-duh-nay-vee-uhn] / ˌskæn dəˈneɪ vi ən /

adjective

  1. of or relating to Scandinavia, its inhabitants, or their languages.


noun

  • Scandinavians
    plural
  1. a native or inhabitant of Scandinavia.

  2. the group of languages composed of Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Old Norse, Swedish, and the language of the Faeroe Islands; North Germanic. Scand, Scand.

scandinavian British  
/ ˌskændɪˈneɪvɪən /

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Scandinavia, its inhabitants, or their languages

"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

noun

  1. a native or inhabitant of Scandinavia

  2. Also: Norse. the northern group of Germanic languages, consisting of Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faeroese

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns


Etymology

Origin of Scandinavian

First recorded in 1775–85; Scandinavi(a) + -an


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Co-author David Mataix-Cols states that he has received author's fees from UpToDate Inc and that he is a partner in Scandinavian E-Health AB, which is unrelated to the publication.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

She is a staunch defender of the Scandinavian country's famed welfare state, with an attitude that resonates with many Swedes, regularly topping opinion polls on the country's most trusted politicians.

From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026

“You see this in Scandinavian countries, you see it in China where they mandated EVs and they put money behind it and the industry surged.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Another solution to this front-line problem grows in Scandinavian forests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Downtown Reykjavik, a charming city of almost 120,000 people, has the atmosphere of a typical Scandinavian village, although it’s somewhat larger.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Today, Scandinavians differ in their enthusiasm for this narrative.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 23, 2026

A few hundred yards up the road, there was an even bigger Danish corner, which came to include all types of Scandinavians in one giant collection of sunburns.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

The two nations have almost identical populations, so how have the Scandinavians aced their plan of attack?

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Having already beaten Inter at home 3–1, the Scandinavians edged the Italians 2–1 at the iconic San Siro on Tuesday to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.

From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026

For instance, today almost all Japanese and Scandinavians are literate but most Iraqis are not: why did writing nevertheless arise nearly four thousand years earlier in Iraq?

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

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