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Glite Dictionary
Rastafari

Rastafari

3 8.8
A religious and cultural movement from Jamaica that sees Haile Selassie as holy and uses dreadlocks and reggae music
  • noun
  • /ˌræstəˈfɑri/
: Rastafari
  • Rastafari beliefs include the veneration of Haile Selassie as a divine figure.
  • Rastafari movement

The Rastafari was amazing because Rastafari really taught me how to eat, how to look after my body, how to look after my temple.

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Examples

  • The Rastafari have made a deep and lasting impression upon Jamaica.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Rastafari is a seed planted in di heart.

    Bob Marley: One Love (2024)

  • I made friends with a whole table of Rastafari.

    Never Been Kissed (1999)

  • Robbie, when your family reject you, Rastafari accept you.

    Bob Marley: One Love (2024)

  • And, like the Rastafari before them, they use sound to invent this space of black belonging.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The Rastafari state will be a "theocratic government" guided by a constitution based on divine principles: a moral state.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The Rastafari and GUMs in general are exemplars of prefigurative movement practices.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Rastafari know dere is a purpose and a reason fi everyting.

    Bob Marley: One Love (2024)

  • The Rastafari want their own state (their "new society"), but none that currently exists, including the Ethiopian nation-state that they cherish.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The Psalms also "support" the important trademarks of Rastafari: smoking ganja, shouting JAH!, and acting like sparks of the divine.

    Academic text (2000)

Synonyms

Rastafarianism
vsRastafari
1 8.7

A Jamaican religious movement that believes Haile Selassie is the Messiah and Africa is a promised land for Black people

is broader and includes rituals distinctive styles like dreadlocks and reggae music

Surface Forms

Rastafari singular
Rastafaris plural

Etymology

Rastafari comes from the name Ras Tafari, the title and name of the Ethiopian leader who later became Emperor Haile Selassie; Ras means 'head' or 'chief' and Tafari is his name. So, Rastafari literally means 'followers of Ras Tafari', which is why the movement is named for him and is linked to Jamaican reggae, dreadlocks, and a proud African identity.