vegan

vegan — noun

1. someone who lives entirely on plant-based food and refuses to use any product ma

1.nounB1
Definition

someone who lives entirely on plant-based food and refuses to use any product made from animals — for example, meat, fish, dairy, eggs, leather, or wool

Example

Renata has been a vegan for three years and eats only plant-based food.

present perfect continuous with 'been a vegan'

The restaurant offers several options for vegans, including a nut-based cheese.

options for vegans — noun phrase with preposition 'for'

Common collocations
  • become a vegan
  • strict vegan
  • ethical vegan
  • lifelong vegan
  • vegan-friendly
Synonyms
  • strict vegetarian

    older term; less common today but still understood; emphasises that veganism is a stricter form of vegetarianism

  • plant-based eater

    modern term that focuses on food choices rather than ethics; may include people who are not fully vegan in other areas of life

Antonyms
  • omnivore

    someone who eats both plant and animal foods without restriction

Usage Note

Frequently paired with 'become' (become a vegan) or 'go' (go vegan — adjective form). The noun form is often used in plural to refer to the group as a whole. Many vegans follow this lifestyle for ethical reasons, environmental concerns, or health benefits.

Common Mistakes

I am a vegetarian — I do not eat eggs or milk.
I am a vegan
I do not eat eggs or milk.' — A vegetarian may eat eggs and dairy; a vegan avoids all animal products.
Vegans do not eat meat.
Vegans do not eat any animal products, including meat, eggs, and dairy.
The first statement describes a vegetarian, not a vegan.

vegan — adjective

Word family

  • veganism
    nounB2
  • veganize
    verbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Vegan, vegetarian, plant-based eater, and flexitarian all describe diets that limit animal products, but they differ in strictness and scope. A vegetarian avoids meat and fish but may eat eggs, dairy, and honey. A vegan avoids all animal products — not just meat and fish, but also dairy, eggs, honey, and often leather or wool. Plant-based eater is a looser term focused on food choices rather than identity; someone may eat mostly plants but still have animal products occasionally. Flexitarian describes someone who follows a mostly vegetarian diet but eats meat or fish now and then. For example, saying 'I am vegan — I do not eat meat' understates the commitment; 'I am vegan — I avoid all animal products' is accurate.

vegetarian ↗plant-based eaterflexitarian

Common collocations

Nouns

  • vegan diet
  • vegan lifestyle
  • vegan food
  • vegan restaurant
  • vegan option
  • vegan recipe

Adverbs

  • strictly vegan
  • fully vegan
  • completely vegan

Phrases

  • go vegan
  • vegan-friendly

Etymology

Englishcoined from 'vegetarian'

The word 'vegan' was coined in 1944 by Donald Watson, co-founder of The Vegan Society in Britain. He took the first three and last two letters from 'vegetarian' to create a new term that marked a stricter diet — one that excludes not just meat and fish but all animal products. The term spread internationally as the movement grew, and it is now used in many languages around the world.