Israeli
adj, name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A person from Israel or of Israeli descent.
"Until Israel’s critics figure out how to acknowledge the pain and suffering resulting from Palestinian terrorism and exterminationist rhetoric, by pointing the Palestinians and the Arabs toward real change, they will fail to sway those Israelis and Jews that are ready to take a shot at reconciliation."
- 2 a native or inhabitant of Israel wordnet
- 1 Of, from, or pertaining to Israel or the Israeli people. not-comparable
"The current Israeli government has been working to curtail and eliminate critical voices within Israeli society in recent years, particularly those fighting to end the occupation and expose human rights violations against Palestinians and marginalized communities."
- 1 of or relating to or characteristic of Israel or its people wordnet
- 1 The modern form of the Hebrew language, as spoken in the State of Israel. nonstandard
"Thus, when most native Israeli-speakers speak Israeli, their intonation is much more similar to that of Yiddish, the mother tongue of most revivalists, than to that of Arabic or any other language belonging to the Semitic branch […]"
Example
More examples"This United Nations resolution calls for the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict."
Etymology
From Hebrew ישראלי (jiśrəʾēlî). By surface analysis, Israel + -i. Usage as a synonym for "Modern Israeli Hebrew" was popularized by Ghil'ad Zuckermann.
Related phrases
More for "israeli"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.