English Reference

Word

ethnically

Phoneticseth·ni·cal·ly

US/ˈɛθnɪkɫi/

UK/ˈɛθnɪkli/

Definition

adv. in a way that relates to a person's cultural background, race, or national origin.

adv. in a manner relating to shared cultural, national, or racial origins. Typically modifies adjectives or verbs to specify the demographic context of a population or individual.

Examples

“The city is ethnically diverse.”

“The neighborhood is ethnically mixed, with families from over twenty different countries living on the same street.”

“Researchers found that the study group was not ethnically representative of the wider population, leading them to adjust their sampling methods for the next phase of the project.”

Examples

simple

“The city is ethnically diverse.”

contextual

“The neighborhood is ethnically mixed, with families from over twenty different countries living on the same street.”

complex

“Researchers found that the study group was not ethnically representative of the wider population, leading them to adjust their sampling methods for the next phase of the project.”

Usage

Commonly used to modify adjectives like 'diverse', 'mixed', or 'homogeneous'.

Real-World Examples

“They burned village after village, all in the name of creating an ethnically pure Serbian territory in Croatia and Serbia.”
BBC News · 27 Aug 2026
“But he added that he found that people in the borough, which is one of the UK’s most ethnically diverse, were “open to new people”.”
The Guardian · 19 Aug 2026

Etymology

From ethnic + -ally.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Collocations

ethnically diverse

Word family

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/ethnically

English Reference