Spanglish

noun

Span·​glish ˈspaŋ-glish How to pronounce Spanglish (audio)
-lish
: Spanish marked by numerous borrowings from English
broadly : any of various combinations of Spanish and English

Examples of Spanglish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Even though René [Pérez] is Puerto Rican, Spanglish is still very familiar to us. Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 30 Oct. 2024 Clerks switched between English and Spanish and Spanglish. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2024 The Spanglish song comes ahead of the Black Keys Latin American tour dates next year. Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2024 Culture not language These days, U.S. Latinos alternate between English, Spanish, and even Spanglish. Xavier A. Gutierrez, TIME, 25 Sep. 2024 Generally, about 75% of Latinos are able to speak Spanish pretty well or very well, and 63% speak Spanglish, a mix of both languages, Pew Research Center reported last year. Suzanne Gamboa, NBC News, 4 Sep. 2024 Acosta, a social media content creator, told USA TODAY. Acosta, who uses they/them pronouns, uses their platform to educate social media followers about Latinx and Hispanic culture with a dash of Spanglish on the side. Ahjané Forbes, USA TODAY, 15 Sep. 2024 Strassburger fell in love with the borderlands, with its slew of cultures and agile Spanglish. Jack Herrera, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2024 Was introducing Spanglish within the mainstream pop landscape a challenge for you? Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 6 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

blend of Spanish and English

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Spanglish was in 1958

Dictionary Entries Near Spanglish

Cite this Entry

“Spanglish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Spanglish. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

Spanglish

noun
Span·​glish ˈspaŋ-glish How to pronounce Spanglish (audio)
-lish
: Spanish marked by many borrowings from English
also : any of various combinations of Spanish and English
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!