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Najaf

American

[naj-af] / ˈnædʒ æf /

Also An-Najaf

noun

a city in central Iraq: holy city of the Shiʿites; shrine contains tomb of Ali (around a.d. 600–661), founder of the Shiʿite sect.

Najaf British

/ ˈnædʒæf /

noun

a holy city in central Iraq, near the River Euphrates; burial place of the Caliph Ali and a centre of the Shiite faith. Pop: 639 000 (2005 est)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Most of them reside and run seminaries in the holy cities of Qom in Iran and Najaf in Iraq.

From Salon • Mar. 6, 2026

Born in Najaf, Iraq in 1957 to a prominent Shiite cleric who was close to the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Larijani's family has been influential within Iran's political system for decades.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

The interviews for “The Last 600 Meters,” which commemorates the Iraq War battles of Fallujah and Najaf, were conducted in 2007, “while memories were still fresh.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

The authorities were forced to shut down airports in the provinces of Najaf and Basra.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2025

He then left Najaf and came to Baghdád, and here he was honored with meeting Bahá’u’lláh.

From Memorials of the Faithful by `Abdu'l-Bahá

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023