Sulawesi

American

[soo-lah-wey-see] / ˌsu lɑˈweɪ si /

noun

an island in central Indonesia. 72,986 sq. mi. (189,034 sq. km).

Sulawesi British

/ ˌsuːləˈweɪsɪ /

noun

Also called: Celebes. an island in E Indonesia: mountainous and forested, with volcanoes and hot springs. Pop: 14 946 488 (2000). Area (including adjacent islands): 229 108 sq km (88 440 sq miles)

"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

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.

The artwork was preserved in limestone caves in southeastern Sulawesi, on the nearby island of Muna.

From Science Daily • Mar. 22, 2026

The people who made the Sulawesi art were likely closely related to the ancestors of Indigenous Australians.

From Science Daily • Mar. 22, 2026

The ship's latest mission focuses on a seamount chain off Indonesia's Sulawesi island that scientists on board mapped last year.

From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026

Over the past decade, a series of discoveries on Sulawesi has overturned the old idea that art and abstract thinking in our species burst suddenly into life in Ice Age Europe and spread from there.

From BBC • Jan. 21, 2026

A fire at a nursing home on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi late Sunday killed more 16 people and injured three, a local official said.

From Barron's • Dec. 29, 2025

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023