injun

See also: Injun

English

Alternative forms

• Injin, Injun

Etymology

Variant of Indian. Compare Cajun. First attested in the 1805–15.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɪn.dʒən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪndʒən
• Hyphenation: in‧jun

Noun

injun (plural injuns)

1. (US, slang, offensive) A Native American.
   • 1995, Pocahontas, spoken by John Smith:

     We'll kill ourselves an injun, and maybe two or three!

   • 1999, “What Do You Want Me to Say?”, in Emergency & I, performed by the Dismemberment Plan:

     You want a problem, well I guess we got one now / I really don't know how / There's injuns over every goddamn hill

   • 2024 February 2, Ellen E. Jones, “Beyond the pale: where are all the films about ‘whiteness’?”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     Instead of grudgingly admitting the “Injuns” weren’t so bad after all, it actually explores the conflicted culpability of individual white Americans.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

Derived terms

• honest injun

Translations

Native American — see Indian

Further reading

• Native American name controversy § injun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia