Tutsi

noun

Tut·​si ˈtü-sē  ˈtüt- 

plural Tutsi or Tutsis

: a member of a people of Rwanda and Burundi probably of Nilotic origin

Examples of Tutsi in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The dance’s name comes from an alternate name for the Tutsi group native to Rwanda, which performs elaborate dances, while the dance itself evolved from the twist. —Elie Levine, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025

Enraged, gangs of Hutu extremists began killing Tutsi, backed by the army and police. —Rodney Muhumuza, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2024

Prior to colonization in 1919, Hutus and Tutsi were impermanent economic class categories, likely determined by the number of cattle individuals owned. —Anneliese M. Schenk-Day, The Conversation, 5 Apr. 2024

His family with Tatiana is mixed: Hutu and Tutsi, all jumbled up. —Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 29 July 2024

In 1994, ethnic Hutu extremists in Rwanda assassinated President Juvénal Habyarimana, triggering genocide against the Tutsi and mass killings of moderate Hutu and other groups. —Judd Devermont, Foreign Affairs, 27 June 2024

Two new books by Gilles Kepel and Olivier Roy offer better… The Unanswered Question: Attempting to Explain the Rwandan Genocide Seven years after more than 500,000 Tutsi were massacred in Rwanda, the world still cannot explain why. —Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2024

Deliberate attempts to wipe a people out is, whether Nazis attempt to wipe out all with Jewish blood or Hutu try to wipe out Tutsi in Rwanda. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 18 May 2024

Leaders in the south, which had a large Tutsi population, initially resisted, but were either killed or forced to comply. —The Week Uk, theweek, 21 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above