Word: ninja Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Borrowed from Japanese 忍者 (ninja), of uncertain derivation but with an underlying sense of secret or hidden person. Popularized in Japanese by manga after World War II and in English by the 1980 novel The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader and the 1981 movie Enter the Ninja Noun sense 3.1 (“Mongolian miner”) arose from the supposed resemblance of the bowls used to wash ore with mercury to the shells of the main characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Juggalo slang sense arose via influence from AAVE nigga. Pronunciation: /ˈnɪnd͡ʒə/ 1. One trained in ninjutsu, especially one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period. Labels: historical Example: He used to work in the Japanese agency as a ninja. Example: The men... are now learning to be ninja or ‘stealers-in’. 2. One who very skillful, considered similar to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation. Labels: figuratively Example: 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. Example: Other bankers are dubbing themselves ninja, modern-day descendants of the superspies of 17th century samurai houses. 3. One who very skillful, considered similar to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation. Labels: figuratively, in-plural, slang Example: I had TOTK running on my pc 2 weeks before it released on the switch and I'm still here. They can send the ninjas, I'm waiting. Example: eNintendo ninjas were inside the discord, watching. Now all the Yuzu devs have turned over all electronic devices, websites, logs... 4. One who very skillful, considered similar to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation. Labels: dated, figuratively, informal Example: A ninja developer can take advantage of this when building large software systems, adding a bit of C# and a dabble of Python. Example: If you're a Linux ninja, this book still gives you a solid reference on the Raspberry Pi and the version of Linux it uses, but no prior Linux knowledge is required. 5. One who is considered to resemble the historical ninja in some way. Labels: figuratively Example: 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. Example: Yen buyers were more subdued... fearing the Bank of Japan's new strategy of covert intervention to buy U.S. dollars through agent banks—described by some as the central bank's ninjas or secret agents. 6. One who is considered to resemble the historical ninja in some way. Labels: figuratively, historical, slang Example: Many were former nomads, but as the gold rush gathered pace, students, vets and taxi drivers from Ulan Bator joined the ninjas, not just in Ogoomor but in other gold towns across the country. 7. Synonym of nigga, used as a friendly term of address. Labels: euphemistic Example: What's up, ninjas? Example: I'm thicker than a Snicker, I'm thicker than your ninja! 8. Synonym of nigga, used as a friendly term of address. Labels: euphemistic Example: What up, my ninja! 9. Synonym of nigger. Labels: ethnic, euphemistic, slur