Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of or relating to the city of Shanghai.
  • noun A native or inhabitant of Shanghai.
  • noun The variety of Chinese spoken in Shanghai.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to Shanghai.
  • noun Inhabitant of Shanghai; person of Shanghainese descent.
  • proper noun A dialect of Wu spoken predominantly in Shanghai.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Shanghai + -nese (as in Chinese).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shanghai +‎ -ese

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Examples

  • His routines are filled with local humor and performed mainly in "Shanghainese" -- a local dialect with only a passing resemblance to Mandarin.

    unknown title 2009

  • The Chinese comedian's use of 'Shanghainese' gives him flexibility that most Mandarin-speaking performers don't have -- the government in Beijing can't understand him.

    unknown title 2009

  • If this trend goes on, 30 years later, I 'afraid, Shanghainese, a kind of language whichwas onceoften used as elements in satire sketches, will generally perish.

    Global Voices in English » China: One-Child Policy Heading for a Revision 2009

  • From Shanghainese steamed xiao long bao with their liquid center filling to Japanese gyoza yeah, my mom's are the best.

    Who Fries The Best Dumplings in Chinatown? Serious Eats : New York 2011

  • In Shanghai, I believe all the young parents like me are more or less worried abouta phenomenonthat the kids are unwilling to speak Shanghainese.

    Global Voices in English » China: One-Child Policy Heading for a Revision 2009

  • The virtual travel aspect of an Expo would have little appeal in contemporary America -- for the same reason that some of the more cosmopolitan Shanghainese I know were blasé about the mega-event currently taking place in their city.

    Jeffrey Wasserstrom: California Dreamin' at China's World's Fair Jeffrey Wasserstrom 2010

  • From Shanghainese steamed xiao long bao with their liquid center filling to Japanese gyoza yeah, my mom's are the best.

    Who Fries The Best Dumplings in Chinatown? Serious Eats : New York 2011

  • From Shanghainese steamed xiao long bao with their liquid center filling to Japanese gyoza yeah, my mom's...

    Who Fries The Best Dumplings in Chinatown? Serious Eats : New York 2011

  • From Shanghainese steamed xiao long bao with their liquid center filling to Japanese gyoza yeah, my mom s...

    Who Fries The Best Dumplings in Chinatown? Serious Eats : New York 2011

  • And as seven beefcakes, including two from New York and one from Indonesia, strutted onto an outdoor stage, a crowd of hundreds erupted in whoops and hollers before awarding the hottest body title to a strapping, six-foot-tall Shanghainese who went by the name Grant.

    Sunday Reading 2009

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