Meaning & use
ninja
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Meanings
nouncountable
A member of a secret group in feudal Japan trained for spying, sneaking and unusual ways of fighting.
Grammar: Takes a plural: ninja or ninjas.
Patterns
- a ninja warrior
Stories describe the ninja as a master of disguise.
The museum has a display on ninja tools.
Children dressed as ninjas for the party.
nouncountableinformalfigurative
A person who is very skilled at something, or who moves quietly and without being noticed.
Grammar: Informal; often with a skill: a coding ninja.
Patterns
- a ninja at something
- a code ninja
Our designer is a spreadsheet ninja.
She is a ninja in the kitchen and finishes dinner in minutes.
He slipped out of the room like a ninja.
adjectivebefore a nouninformalhumorous
Done quietly, quickly or secretly.
Grammar: Informal and humorous: a ninja move.
Patterns
- a ninja move
She made a ninja move and grabbed the last slice.
It was a ninja edit made before anyone noticed.
He did a ninja exit before the speech ended.
Word forms
| plural | ninja |
|---|---|
| plural | ninjas |
Common combinations
- ninja warrior
- The movie features a ninja warrior.
- ninja turtle
- The children love the ninja turtle toys.
- stealthy ninja
- A stealthy ninja crossed the roof.
- coding ninja
- He calls himself a coding ninja.
- ninja skills
- She has real ninja skills at packing.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shinobi
- Shinobi is the Japanese term for the historic spies and is used in more specialized writing.
- assassin
- Assassin is a killer of important people, which is only one thing a ninja might do in fiction.
- expert
- Expert says nothing about stealth, where ninja adds playful flair.
- whiz
- Whiz is informal for someone clever, again without the stealth idea.
Opposites
Word family
- ninjutsu noun
- the traditional Japanese arts of the ninja
- ninja-like adjective
- quiet and skilled, like a ninja
- samurai noun
- a Japanese warrior of the feudal era
Commonly confused: ninja or samurai?
ninja vs samurai
A samurai was a noble warrior in open combat, while a ninja worked in secret.
Practice
Which sentence uses ninja in its informal, figurative sense?
Choose one answer.
Spreadsheet ninja is a figurative compliment for great skill. The other sentences refer to the historical figure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ninja”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.