Biafran

B3I1A1F4R1A1N1

adjective

Of, from or relating to Biafra.

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Meanings

adjectiveBiafran (comparative more Biafran, superlative most Biafran)

comparative more Biafran · superlative most Biafran

  1. Of, from or relating to Biafra.
  2. derogatoryExtremely skinny.

    You want food? You look Biafran.

    2010, 1:42:08 from the start, in Animal Kingdom
    2 more examples

    "He looked Biafran, he looked HIV-positive," Suzanne said, "Contrary to what the doctors were worried about, I believe those kids were keeping him alive."

    2006, Stephen P. Kiernan, Last Rights: Rescuing the End of Life from the Medical System

    She was truly skinny now and in this defenseless. She had surpassed fashionable and veered into unhealth. She looked Biafran; her eyes seemed to bulge out of her head.

    2007, Wendy Rawlings, The Agnostics, page 111
nounBiafran (plural Biafrans)

plural Biafrans

  1. A native or inhabitant of Biafra.

Origin

From Biafra + -an. The "skinny" sense is in reference to the images of extremely skinny Biafran refugees from the Nigerian Civil War that appeared plentifully in English-language media in the 1960s and 1970s.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French Biafrais
  • Biafraisa person from Biafra
Portuguese biafrense, biafrense
  • biafrenseof, from or relating to Biafra
  • biafrensea person from Biafra
Cite this entry
APA

Biafran. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Biafran

MLA

“Biafran.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Biafran. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Biafran,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Biafran.

Source: Biafran on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.