first-generation
Americanadjective
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being the first generation of a family to be born in a particular country.
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being a naturalized citizen of a particular country; immigrant.
the child of first-generation Americans.
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.
The roommate, Dave Schaller described the client - a large man who he said looked like "an ogre" and drove a first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche, a unique vehicle.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
The first-generation college student is among a cohort of AI whiz kids who are dropping out of college—and getting their investors to pay their bills.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
A first-generation college student of Haitian and Dominican descent, she took out loans for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, but it was her pursuit of a doctorate that really shot up her balance.
From Salon • Mar. 17, 2026
“She’s first-generation American, just like myself,” Zermeño said.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026
But as Darbishire analyzed his own first-generation hybrids, and the hybrid-hybrid crosses, the pattern was clear: the data could only be explained by Mendelian inheritance, with indivisible traits moving vertically across the generations.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
