Guinea-Bissauan

adjective

Of or from Guinea-Bissau.

Meanings

adjective
  1. Of or from Guinea-Bissau.

    Copious amounts of palm oil, tomatoes, chili, fish, and goat’s meat are considered traditional staples in Guinea-Bissauan cooking.

    2009, Jamie Stokes, editor, Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East, Facts On File, Inc., Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 270
    2 more examples

    These events and the silences and taboos surrounding them helped create the conditions for the longevity of the ‘linha de Cabral’ or ‘Cabral’s programme’ as a key reference of the erstwhile liberation movement and Guinea-Bissauan politics in general until the late 1990s.

    2012, Philip J. Havik, “Virtual Nations and Failed States: Making Sense of the Labyrinth”, in Eric Morier-Genoud, editor, Sure Road? Nationalisms in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, Leiden, S.H.; Boston, Mass.: Brill, →ISBN, page 52

    Cabral and Pereira looked to unify both nations until Cabral’s prime minister, the former commander of the Guinea-Bissauan armed forces, João Bernardo Vieira, led a military coup against Cabral in 1980 on the grounds that Cabral’s Cape Verdean origins (like his brother, Amílcar, he was born in Bissau to Cape Verdean mixed-race parents) compromised his dedication to the Guinea-Bissauan people.

    2021, Lamonte Aidoo, Daniel F. Silva, editors, Lusophone African Short Stories and Poetry after Independence: Decolonial Destinies, Anthem Press, →ISBN, page 22

    Synonyms: Bissau-Guinean

nounGuinea-Bissauan (plural Guinea-Bissauans)

plural Guinea-Bissauans

  1. A person from Guinea-Bissau or of Guinea-Bissaun descent.

    A noticeable proportion of Guinea-Bissauans are mixed race Crioulo-speakers; mostly Cape Verdean, but also descendants of the small number of settlers and traders who came direct from Portugal.

    1990, Jim Hudgens, Richard Trillo, West Africa: The Rough Guide, Rough Guides, →ISBN, page 531
    2 more examples

    Hoyt said, ‘When you look at me, I don’t want you to see a Guinea-Bissauan. My passport is a detail. It helped me through a personal crisis. Do me the courtesy of seeing me as I really am, a colleague and a fellow human being.’

    1996, Paul Theroux, “The Lawyer’s Story”, in News: Scoops, Lies, and Videotape . . . Inside the Media Business […], Granta, →ISBN, page 237

    In other words, the cocaine trade may be seen to provide a possibility for migration when in Bissau, just as selling cocaine may provide one of the few ways that Guinea-Bissauans can gain an income once they arrive in Europe, yet in doing so it makes both migration from Bissau and life in Europe increasingly difficult, as Guinea-Bissauans are increasingly policed and met with suspicion.

    2018, Nigel Rapport, editor, Distortion: Social Processes Beyond the Structured and Systemic, Routledge, →ISBN

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveOf or from Guinea-Bissau.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

Guinea-Bissauan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Guinea-Bissauan

MLA

“Guinea-Bissauan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Guinea-Bissauan. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Guinea-Bissauan,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Guinea-Bissauan.

Source: Guinea-Bissauan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.