Yupik

American  

[yoo-pik] / ˈju pɪk /

noun

• Yupiks,
  plural
• Yupik
  plural

1. a member of any of several Indigenous peoples inhabiting western coastal Alaska from Prince William Sound north to Norton Sound, and St. Lawrence Island and the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula of Siberia.

2. any of the Eskimo-Aleut languages spoken by the Yupik.

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Yupik British  

/ ˈjuːpɪk /

noun

1. an aboriginal people of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, and E Siberia

2. any of the languages of this people

3. of or relating to the Yupik people or their languages Compare Inuit Inuktitut

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Yupik
  plural
• Yupiks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Yupik

First recorded in 1950–55; from Central Alaskan Yup'ik Yup'ik, a self-designation, equivalent to yuk “human being, person” + -pik “real”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Yupik

English and St Lawrence Island Yupik are the island's main languages.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

In Alaska, that can look like getting friends together for a maqiq, the Yupik word for a sauna or steam bath.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 15, 2023

The windows shattered, leaving Waskey — a Yupik native who grew up in the home with his family and remained after his parents passed — with icy drafts through subzero winters.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 24, 2021

He shares the Yupik name for what is now the city of Gambell, Alaska.

From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2021

“Things are much better now,” says Metcalf, who is Yupik.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 9, 2020