Afghan
noun
a native or inhabitant of Afghanistan.
Afghan
American
[af-gan, -guhn]
/ ˈæf gæn, -gən /
noun
-
Afghans
plural
-
a native or inhabitant of Afghanistan.
-
afghan, a soft woolen blanket, crocheted or knitted, usually in a geometric pattern.
-
Also called Afghan hound. one of a breed of swift hunting hounds having a long, narrow head and a long, silky coat.
-
Literary. Pashto.
adjective
Afghan
1
British
/ ˈæfɡæn, -ɡən, -ˈɡɑː- /
noun
-
a native, citizen, or inhabitant of Afghanistan
-
another name for Pashto
-
history an Indian camel driver employed in the outback of Australia
adjective
afghan
2
British
/ ˈæfɡæn, -ɡən /
noun
-
a knitted or crocheted wool blanket or shawl, esp one with a geometric pattern
-
a sheepskin coat, often embroidered and having long fur trimming around the edges
Usage
See afghani.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Afghan
First recorded in 1740–50; from Persian afghān “inhabitant of the Hindu Kush; a Pathan“
Explanation
An afghan is a knitted or crocheted blanket. You might spend Friday night curled up on the couch under an afghan watching old movies on TV. Many afghans are made from individual crocheted squares — called "granny squares" — stitched together into one big, multicolored blanket. Other afghans are striped or composed of large blocks of color. The connection of the name afghan with the people or country of Afghanistan is unclear, though some crochet and knitting fans believe that the original afghans, first made in the 1800s, were influenced by multi-colored blankets from that country.
Vocabulary lists containing afghan
English Words Derived from Arabic
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
When the U.S. finished pulling out of Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, it imperiled the lives of every Afghan who had helped, including the Institute of Peace’s local staff and their families.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
More than 39,000 people arrived under the Afghan Resettlement Programme and in July 2025 the government confirmed the schemes were either closed to new applicants or discontinued.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
During a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly earlier this week, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called for "concrete and verifiable" measures to ensure that Afghan territory is not used for "terrorism".
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
"Afghan culture should not vanish, and music is one of the cultures of our people. Personally, I don't want this culture to disappear."
From Barron's
But Baba was long dead, buried in the Afghan section of a little cemetery in Hayward.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Valley College, her crocheted afghan flying like a kite.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
It’s a form of manipulation and control like any other — except crocheted into an afghan and presented as love.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 17, 2022
Since September, Minnesota has welcomed 721 afghan evacuees according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
From Fox News ● Jan. 20, 2022
I wrote early on in that essay, trying to conjure the first moment I ever saw one as an infant — my parent's afghan hound, Easy.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2021
She lies on the sofa with her turbanlike Sunday hat on, the afghan wrapped around her.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
The council urged the international community to "adjust further its engagement with any stakeholders in Afghanistan" with regard to human rights and fundamental freedoms for all Afghans.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
It seemed that many of these newly arrived Afghans faced some level of PTSD.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
Few voices call for absolute isolation, not when the United Nations warns that 22 million Afghans – nearly half the of the population – rely on some form of foreign assistance to help them survive.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East absorb international attention, and Europe's burning issue is how to stop so many Afghans fleeing towards their shores.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The Taheris lived in a flat, one-story house in one of the residential areas in Fremont known for housing a large number of Afghans.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
