multiracial

adjective

mul·​ti·​ra·​cial ˌməl-tē-ˈrā-shəl 

-ˌtī-

1

: composed of, involving, or representing various races (see race entry 1 sense 1a)

a multiracial society

multiracial families

"This is real music by real musicians," exclaimed Prince in the midst of "Controversy," one of roughly two dozen songs he performed before an adoring multiracial, all-ages, pansexual, sold-out crowd.

—Ernest Hardy

2

: having parents or ancestors of different races

Junior high and high school, with their harsh social delineation, can be particularly tough. But multiracial teens who run the gantlet often emerge with a stronger sense of self.

—Lynette Clemetson

multiracialism

ˌməl-tē-ˈrā-shə-ˌli-zəm 

-ˌtī-

noun

Examples of multiracial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The United States’ historic transition from a white-majority to a genuinely multiracial democracy is producing social changes with profound political implications. —Robert A. Pape, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2024

At the height of Jim Crow, Pentecostalism emerged in California as a multiracial, working-class movement. —Laura Bullard, Vox, 20 Sep. 2024

In the late nineteen-eighties, my husband and I lived in Rochester’s Nineteenth Ward, a vibrant multiracial neighborhood near the University of Rochester. —The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2024

Webb, Harris and more than 33 million other multiracial Americans are, by some measures, part of the nation’s fastest growing demographic group. —Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN, 11 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1897, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

multiracial

adjective

mul·​ti·​ra·​cial ˌməl-ti-ˈrā-shəl 

-ˌtī-

1

: composed of, involving, or representing various races

2

: having parents or ancestors of different races