Malay
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or characteristic of a racially intermixed people who are the dominant population of the Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands.
-
of or relating to the language or culture of these people.
noun
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a member of the Malay people.
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an Austronesian language of Malaysia and Singapore, differing from Indonesian only in orthography.
noun
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a member of a people living chiefly in Malaysia and Indonesia who are descendants of Mongoloid immigrants
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the language of this people, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian family
adjective
Other Word Forms
- non-Malay adjective
- pre-Malay adjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For centuries the Maniq -- one of Thailand's smallest ethnic minorities — lived as hunter-gatherers, roaming the rainforests of the Malay Peninsula, moving with the seasons in search of food.
From Barron's • Nov. 24, 2025
In the widely shared video, he wears a traditional outfit known as a Teluk Belanga with a Malay Riau headcloth.
From BBC • Jul. 11, 2025
De' Conti acknowledged the fruit's esteem throughout the Malay archipelago, but considered its odour nauseating.
From Salon • Jul. 22, 2024
On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was heading from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, to Beijing, when it deviated from its scheduled path, turning west across the Malay Peninsula.
From New York Times • Mar. 6, 2024
“I mean such as Malay proas, catamarans, Arab dhows, Chinese sanpans, Japanese pilot boats, Turkish caiques, Esquimaux kiacks, Alaskan war canoes, the hooded boats of the Swiss Lakes, and so on.”
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
