- of, relating to, or characteristic of Vietnam, its people, or their language
- ( pl -ese) a native or inhabitant of Vietnam
- the language of Vietnam, probably related to the Mon-Khmer languages
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
Vi•et•nam•ese /viˌɛtnɑˈmiz, -ˈmis, -nə-, ˌvyɛt-, ˌviɪt-/USA pronunciation
n., pl. -ese. [uncountable] the language spoken by many of the people in Vietnam.
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- [countable] a person born or living in Vietnam.
adj.
- of or relating to Vietnam.
Vi•et•nam•ese
(vē et′nä mēz′, -mēs′, -nə-, vyet′-, vē′it-),USA pronunciation n., pl. -ese, adj.
n.
adj.
n.
- a native or inhabitant of Vietnam.
- Language VarietiesFormerly, Annamese, Annamite. the language of Vietnam, of uncertain linguistic affiliation.
adj.
- Language Varietiesof or pertaining to Vietnam or its inhabitants.
- Vietnam + -ese 1945–50
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Vietnamese /ˌvjɛtnəˈmiːz/ adj
An•na•mese
(an′ə mēz′, -mēs′),USA pronunciation adj., n., pl. -mese.
adj.
n. Also, An•nam•ite
adj.
- of or pertaining to Annam, its people, or their language.
n. Also, An•nam•ite
- (an′ə mīt′).USA pronunciation
- a native of Annam.
- former name of the language Vietnamese.
- Annam + -ese 1820–30
'Vietnamese' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Cambodia
- Duras
- Ky
- pho
- Red River
- South Vietnamese
- Vietnam
- Annamese
- ao dai
- Austroasiatic
- Caodaism
- dink
- dong
- ESE
- hao
- Ho Chi Minh
- isolating
- Le Duc Tho
- My Lai
- Ngo Dinh Diem
- Nguyen Van Thieu
- Pham Van Dong
- pro-Vietnamese
- Tet
- Tet offensive
- Viet
- Vietcong
- Vietminh
- Vietnamization
- Vietnamize
- xu
- slope