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Glite Dictionary
🍹 A retro style 🗿 A carved figure 👤 First man 🌺 Polynesian style
tiki

tiki

4 8.4
A carved figure from Polynesian islands that shows ancestors or gods
  • noun
  • /ˈtiːki/
: tiki
  • In the gift shop, I found a small tiki figurine that would make a great centerpiece for my living room.
  • tiki totem
  • a tiki statue
  • a tiki pole

I don't know the what are you, the tiki totem pole, signpost direction leader, ghetto maps thing?

Examples

  • You can also look at those tiki dolls and those tiki statues in the background, which were sculpted out of Styrofoam and painted by those same painters.

    Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

  • During the festival, participants displayed traditional tiki masks made from wood, showcasing intricate designs.

  • Two Tiki heads bracket either side of the entrance.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • You have the Tiki Mugs that they've made that have become super popular.

  • Are these tiki torches?

    Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006)

  • One of my favorite parts of the park was the Hale o Keawe and the beautiful carved ki'i (tiki) statues surrounding it.

    Blog text (23)

  • The restaurant decor featured several beautiful tiki carvings, each representing a different deity from Polynesian culture.

Compounds

Kon Tiki
1 8.5

A light raft made of balsa wood used by Thor Heyerdahl in 1947

Surface Forms

tiki singular
tikis plural

Etymology

Tiki comes from a Maori word for the 'first man' or an important ancestor, and the same word names the carved figures made to show those gods or ancestors. That's why a tiki is a carved statue often used as decoration or a symbol of family and spirit.