Ninja

/ˈnɪnd͡ʒə/ · noun

Meaning

(martial arts) A person trained in ninjutsu, especially (historical) one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period..

Definitions by Sense

1. (martial arts) A person trained in ninjutsu, especially (historical) one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period.
2. (figurative) A person considered similarly skillful to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation.
3. (figurative) A person considered to look like the historical ninja in some way, including (historical slang) an amateur private miner in Mongolia.
4. (euphemistic, African-American Vernacular) Synonym of nigga as a friendly term of address.
5. (euphemistic, vulgar, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) nigger.
6. (informal) Fast and sneaky.
7. (ambitransitive) To act or move like a ninja, particularly with regard to a combination of speed, power, and stealth.
8. (Internet slang) to beat someone to a post; to make the same reply just before the other party finishes typing, making their response redundant.

Example Sentences

He used to work in the Japanese agency as a ninja.

The men... are now learning to be ninja or ‘stealers-in’.

Spies prowled Japan from the seventh century, but the secretive ninja left few written records.

For months the Japanese spoke of national-security adviser Henry Kissinger as a ninja—the magician of Japanese legends who performs supernatural acts and practices sorcery.

Other bankers are dubbing themselves ninja, modern-day descendants of the superspies of 17th century samurai houses.

Young banking and securities firms executives (nicknamed the ninja...) are especially assigned to cultivate relations with the finance ministry. Only verbal instructions are ever given to the ninja.

A JavaScript ninja should write lots of code and build things!

He immediately suspected they were ninjas because, he said, they were dressed in black and wore masks, trademarks of the mysterious assassins who have been sowing terror across East Java in recent months.

Synonyms for ninja

Antonyms for ninja

Related Words

Word Forms

• ninja
• ninjas
• ninjaing
• ninjaed
• ninja'd

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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