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• Vietnamese
  Vietnamese

  adjective

  of or relating to Vietnam or its inhabitants.
• vietnamese
  vietnamese

  adjective

  of, relating to, or characteristic of Vietnam, its people, or their language

Vietnamese

American  

[vee-et-nah-meez, -mees, -nuh-, vyet-, vee-it-] / viˌɛt nɑˈmiz, -ˈmis, -nə-, ˌvjɛt-, ˌvi ɪt- /

adjective

1. of or relating to Vietnam or its inhabitants.

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noun

• Vietnamese
  plural

1. Formerly Annamite, Annamese. the Austroasiatic language of Vietnam.

2. Sometimes Offensive. a native or inhabitant of Vietnam.

vietnamese British  

/ ˌvjɛtnəˈmiːz /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Vietnam, its people, or their language

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noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Vietnam

2. the language of Vietnam, probably related to the Mon-Khmer languages

Sensitive Note

Some words that describe national or ethnic identities are acceptable as plural nouns, but are either rare or offensive in the singular. This is the case for Vietnamese. It’s sometimes acceptable as a plural noun (a candidate favored by Vietnamese ). However, it's sometimes offensive as a singular noun (the candidate who is a Vietnamese ). Such words are always perfectly appropriate as adjectives (strategies to get Vietnamese voters to the polls).

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• anti-Vietnamese
  adjective
• pro-Vietnamese
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Vietnamese
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Vietnamese

First recorded in 1945–50; Vietnam + -ese

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Vietnamese

Up to 1.2 million Vietnamese soldiers are estimated to have been killed between 1945 and 1975, during wars involving former colonial power France, and then the United States as well as its allies.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Green SM owns and maintains its fleet of electric vehicles, built by the Vietnamese global automaker VinFast.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

About 60% of Vietnamese exports to the U.S. are labeled as machinery, electronics or appliances, sectors that are dominated by big companies with Vietnamese operations, such as Samsung, Intel and electronics manufacturer Foxconn, Gillin said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

American sentiment was turning against newcomers, whether Vietnamese refugees, Cuban and Haitian boat people, Central Americans fleeing civil wars or Mexicans looking for economic opportunity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

On August 2, North Vietnamese forces spotted the American destroyer Maddox cruising in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of North Vietnam.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

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