Asian

plural Asians

1. A person from the continent of Asia, or a descendant thereof - especially:
   1. AustraliaCanadaNew ZealandUSA person from or with ancestry in East or Southeast Asia, occasionally South Asia.

      Hate crimes and attacks on Asians have captured the local news and the national attention since 2020, producing a stream of content that showed innocent people being attacked and belittled in never-ending variations on the same violent theme.

      2022 February 17, Eddie Kim, “Is the ‘Boba Liberal’ Really a Race Traitor?”, in MEL Magazine, archived from the original on 02 Jun 2022

      Synonyms: East Asian, Oriental, Oriental Asian, Chinese

   2. KenyaSouth AfricaUKUgandaA person from or with ancestry in South Asia.

      If radio and television programmes are anything to go by, Asians in Britain get up early on a Sunday.

      1987 May, Paul Oliver, “Movie Mahal: Indian cinema on ITV Channel 4”, in Popular Music, →DOI, page 215

      3 more examples

      We call upon you to be ready to take over from the non-citizens who are leaving the country. As you are aware, I, on Wednesday the 9th August, 1972, signed a Decree revoking with effect from that date, all entry permits and certificates of residence which had been granted to British citizens of Asian origin and the nationals of India, Pakistan and Bangla Desh. They were, however, permitted to stay in Uganda for a period of 90 days from that day [...]

      1972 August 12, Idi Amin Dada, Speeches by His Excellency the President General Idi Amin Dada, Message to the Nation on 12th/13th August, 1972, Address to Disrict Representatives, 29th August, 1972, Mid-night Address to the Nation, 17th December, 1972, Entebbe, Uganda: Government printer

      It is not true that Asians were inadaptable in East Africa. Nearly all Indian men learned to speak English, and, by the second generation, both sexes had become fluently Anglophone, while continuing to use their native tongue (mostly Gujarati, Cutchi, Punjabi or Hindustani). Most Indians also learned the upland Swahili pidgin which is the trade language of East Africa; while few spoke the “correct” coastal Swahili, their fluency in “kitchen Swahili” was often superior to that of the Europeans. The more rural Indian shopkeepers did indeed become somewhat Africanized, while the urban Indian became more Anglicized.

      1981, Pierre van den Berghe, The Ethnic Phenomenon, page 152

      Were there Taliban beheading people? I didn't tell my parents, but I flinched if an Asian-looking man came close.

      2013, Malala Yousafzai, I Am Malala

2. A domestic cat of a breed similar to the Burmese.

comparative more Asian · superlative most Asian

1. Of, relating to or from Asia.

   There are white, black, Asian and Chinese Britons, just as there are any number of different sorts of Americans.

   2015 June 4, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, “The beauty contest winner making Japan look at itself”, in BBC, archived from the original on 22 May 2020

   1 more example

   And some Asian countries are tightening their immigration laws. Japan reinforced its strict stance in January when a court upheld the country’s ban against dual citizenship, rejecting a lawsuit filed by Japanese citizens living in Europe.

   2021 March 15, Jessie Yeung, “These Asian countries are giving dual citizens an ultimatum on nationality – and loyalty”, in CNN, archived from the original on 19 Mar 2022

   Synonyms: Asiatic