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.
Meanings
(informal, not-comparable) Fast and sneaky.
[…]no one else would even know of such a stealthy ninja steal. 2026 January 6, James Stellar, The Long History of the Short Life of Clarice, Gatekeeper Press, →ISBN:
After Marshall fell asleep Elisa eventually jumped into the bed with me while I was turned facing away from her. She was very ninja about it as she put it. 2011, Cory Cantrell, Love and Video Games the Story of a Gamer, Lulu.com, →ISBN:
With a meager budget, the decision was made to go to a new construction site after dark to borrow some needed lumber. The ninja theft went as planned. 2017 January 25, Lloyd Amstrup, Found Treasure: Gems of Great Leadership and Personal Skills, iUniverse, →ISBN:
Double entrapments thus take place in Judah's move: Judah turned Tamar's father's home into a trap for Tamar, and he also trapped Shelah in Bathshua's home. Would Bathshua have approved of Judah's ninja move? 2021 October 4, Jione Havea, Losing Ground: Reading Ruth in the Pacific, SCM Press, →ISBN:
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.
Meanings
(historical) One trained in ninjutsu, especially one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period.
Spies prowled Japan from the seventh century, but the secretive ninja left few written records. 2000 October 15, Denver Post, page 10:
He used to work in the Japanese agency as a ninja.
The men... are now learning to be ninja or ‘stealers-in’. 1964, Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice, page 126:
(figuratively) One who very skillful, considered similar to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation.
A JavaScript ninja should write lots of code and build things! 2017, Darren Jones, JavaScript: Novice to Ninja, SitePoint, →ISBN:
Young banking and securities firms executives (nicknamed the ninja...) are especially assigned to cultivate relations with the finance ministry. Only verbal instructions are ever given to the ninja. 1991 August 4, The Guardian, page 13:
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. 1972 September 11, Newsweek, Int'l edition, page 28:
Other bankers are dubbing themselves ninja, modern-day descendants of the superspies of 17th century samurai houses. 1987 August 3, Business Week, page 40:
(figuratively, in-plural, slang) One who very skillful, considered similar to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation. ▸ A notional draconian arm of a corporation (originally Nintendo), tasked with dealing with individuals that infringe on its rights or do not comply with its regulations.
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. 2024 January 23, @tetsuo_88, X (post):
eNintendo ninjas were inside the discord, watching. Now all the Yuzu devs have turned over all electronic devices, websites, logs... 2024 March 5, @HikikomoriMedia, X (post):
(dated, figuratively, informal) One who very skillful, considered similar to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation. ▸ A programmer or tech worker, particularly one skilled in a particular programming language or environment; used especially in job adverts.
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. 2014 November 3, Sean McManus, Raspberry Pi For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 5:
But in a trawl of British job adverts in 2019, Bartleby found requests for "a call-centre ninja", "a black-belt prioritisation ninja" and one post demanding "a ninja-like attention to detail ". 2024 May 7, Philip Coggan, Surviving the Daily Grind: Bartleby's Guide to Work, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
A ninja developer can take advantage of this when building large software systems, adding a bit of C# and a dabble of Python. 2008, MSDN Magazine:
(figuratively) One who is considered to resemble the historical ninja in some way.
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. 1998 December 28, Chicago Tribune, page 1:
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. 2003 February 21, Business Times:
(figuratively, historical, slang) One who is considered to resemble the historical ninja in some way. ▸ An amateur private miner in Mongolia.
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. 2007 October 10, Jonathan Watts, “Prospectors and 'Ninja' Miners Flood to East's El Dorado”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC:
(euphemistic, qualifier:African-American Vernacular) Synonym of nigga, used as a friendly term of address.
I'm thicker than a Snicker, I'm thicker than your ninja! 2024, “BBL Drizzy”, King Willonius (lyrics):
What's up, ninjas? 2003, Steven Ayromlooi, Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood, spoken by LEPRECHAUN:
(euphemistic, qualifier:African-American Vernacular; Juggalo slang; Juggalo slang) Synonym of nigga, used as a friendly term of address. ▸ Synonym of man; used as a friendly term of address.
sh ни̑нџа (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · es ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · vi nhẫn giả (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · te నింజా (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · bg ни́нджа (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ba ниндзя (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ar نِنْجَا (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · mzn نینجا (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · yue 忍者 (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ko 닌자 (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ms ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · hu nindzsa (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ar نِينْجَا (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · mk нинџа (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · th นินจา (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · hy նինջա (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ru ни́ндзя (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · hi निंजा (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · it ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · is ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · cmn 忍者 (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · mr निंजा (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · sv ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · de Ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · be ні́ндзя (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ja 忍びの者 (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · nan-hbl 忍者 (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · da ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · yi נינדזשאַ (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · vi ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · az nindza (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · eu ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ur نِنْجا (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ka ნინძა (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · el νίντζα (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · fi ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · fa-ira نینْجا (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · eo ninĵo (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · io ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · nb ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ceb ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · fr ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · sl nindža (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · nl ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · pt ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · sh nȋndža (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · pl ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · hi निञ्जा (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · he נִינְגָ׳ה (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ja 忍者 (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · id ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ca ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ast ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ja 忍び (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · cs ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · mn нинжа (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · mr निनजा (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · jv shinobi (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · tr ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · uk ні́ндзя (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · gl ninja (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan) · ta நிஞ்சா (spy and mercenary in pre-modern Japan)
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.
Meanings
(ambitransitive) To act or move like a ninja, particularly with regard to a combination of speed, power, and stealth.
In our dark house we were ninja-ing around with water guns. 1996 April 23, Rocky Mountain News, page 5:
I leapt up, ninja'd over to Gav's bed and wheeched the duvet off. 1992, Iain Banks, Crow Road, page 160:
I ninja'd my way into Kung Fu Records to hang out with those merry pranksters the Vandals. 2002 August 29, Los Angeles Times, page 48:
(Internet) to beat someone to a post; to make the same reply just before the other party finishes typing, making their response redundant.
When I hit post, I saw that Blue Emu had ninja'd me, so I just deleted my reply.
(Internet, slang) To claim an item through abuse of game mechanics.
That damn warrior ninja'd an epic-quality wand even though he can't even use it!