Anasazi

American  

[ah-nuh-sah-zee] / ˌɑ nəˈsɑ zi /

noun

plural

Anasazis,

plural

Anasazi

1. a Basket Maker-Pueblo culture of the plateau region of northern Arizona and New Mexico and of southern Utah and Colorado, dating probably from a.d. 100 to 1300.

2. a member of the people producing this culture.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of this culture or its people.

   the Anasazi communities.

Etymology

Origin of Anasazi

Term introduced in 1936 by U.S. archaeologist Alfred V. Kidder (1885-1963) < Navajo ʾanaasází ancient inhabitants of the Pueblo ruins, literally, aliens' ancestors (' anaa- enemy, alien + -sází ancestor(s), ancestral)

Example Sentences

Coerte Voorhees had tapped Kilmer, who died of pneumonia last year after years of battling throat cancer, for "As Deep as the Grave," about the pioneering archaeologist Ann Morris, a co-discoverer of the Anasazi civilization.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

Rock formations turn trippy in the 40,000-acre Valley of Fire State Park, a wonderland of red Aztec sandstone with petrified logs and Anasazi petroglyphs.

From Washington Post • Jun. 10, 2022

Similarly, a 300-year drought ended the Anasazi civilization about 1,000 years ago in what is now Colorado and Utah.

From Salon • Aug. 5, 2021

Over Lyman’s opposition, the men roared up the shuttered canyon path, crushing Anasazi ruins beneath their tires.

From Slate • Aug. 25, 2020

Crumbling stone dwellings of the long-vanished Kayenta Anasazi, the creators of this rock art, nestle in protective nooks.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer