What does "afro-american" mean?

A native or resident of the United States (an American) who is of African heritage.

Afro-american

Q: What is a synonym for "afro-american"?

Common synonyms include: african american, african-american, african-american, african-american, black american.

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A native or resident of the United States (an American) who is of African heritage. dated
"That great battle was won, not because the victim of slavery was a negro, mulatto, or an Afro-American, but because the victim of slavery was a man and a brother to all other men, a child of God, and could claim with all mankind a common Father, and therefore should be recognized as an accountable being, a subject of government, and entitled to justice, liberty and equality before the law, and every where else."
2
an American whose ancestors were born in Africa wordnet

Adjective

1
Of African-American heritage or culture dated, not-comparable
"I inadvertently gave the afro-american delivery boi a $5 tip probably due to the fact that I had pickled a few brain cells."

Adjective

1
pertaining to or characteristic of Americans of African ancestry wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

african american african-american african-american african-american black american

Example

More examples

"Mae Jemison enrolled at Stanford University at the age of 16 and in 1977 graduated with degrees in both chemical engineering and Afro-American studies."

Etymology

From Afro- + American.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.