South African
/ˌsaʊθˈaf.ɹɪ.kən/
South African noun: a person from South Africa or of South African descent.
Noun
South African (plural South Africans)
- A person from South Africa or of South African descent.
- If dialogue is ever to have a chance, South Africans must find a way to turn away from violence in all its forms — the brutal violence of the sjambok1989, United States Congress Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Subcommittee on African Affairs, United States Policy Toward South Africa: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on African Affairs...
- During the meeting, Trump brandished printouts of what he said were reports about White South Africans being killed.2025 May 21, Daniel Dale, “Fact check: Trump’s false suggestion of a ‘genocide’ against White farmers in South Africa”, in CNN
Adjective
South African (not comparable)
- Of, from, or pertaining to South Africa, or the South African people.
- Thus far, virtually every cinematic attempt to convey the outrages of South African life under apartheid has been diminished by its own good intentions and by a grim sameness that eradicates any element of surprise.1989 September 20, Janet Maslin, “Review/Film; Sutherland Catches On To Apartheid Slowly”, in The New York Times
- He also had Ramaphosa sit through a video montage that included a clip of a demonstration featuring white crosses symbolizing South African farmers who were killed.2025 May 21, Daniel Dale, “Fact check: Trump’s false suggestion of a ‘genocide’ against White farmers in South Africa”, in CNN
- Synonyms:
- Soufrican, Sou'frican
South African meaning in Hindi and Bengali
South African in Hindi
- person
- दक्षिण अफ़्रीकी dakṣiṇ afrīkī
- of, from, or pertaining to South Africa
- दक्षिण अफ़्रीकी dakṣiṇ afrīkī
South African in Bengali
- person
- দক্ষিণ আফ্রিকী dokkhin aphriki
- of, from, or pertaining to South Africa
- দক্ষিণ আফ্রিকীয় dokkhin aphrikiẏo
Synonyms of South African
- Soufrican
- Sou'frican
Forms of South African
| plural | South Africans |
|---|
Origin of South African
From South Africa + -an.
Words formed from South African
Questions about South African
- What does South African mean?
- South African means a person from South Africa or of South African descent.
- What is South African in Hindi?
- South African in Hindi is दक्षिण अफ़्रीकी (dakṣiṇ afrīkī). See South African meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is South African?
- South African can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce South African?
- South African is pronounced /ˌsaʊθˈaf.ɹɪ.kən/.
- What is the plural of South African?
- The plural of South African is South Africans.
Words near South African in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: South African (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-South African.wav.
Cite this entry: “South African.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/south_african. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.