Hindi

noun

Hin·​di ˈhin-(ˌ)dē How to pronounce Hindi (audio)
1
: a literary and official language of northern India
2
: a complex of Indo-Aryan languages and dialects of northern India for which Hindi is the usual literary language
Hindi adjective

Examples of Hindi in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Our producers are planning to do paid premiers on Nov. 30 in U.S.A., which is not usual in the Hindi film industry. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 22 Nov. 2023 Dalpat Rajpurohit, a South Asia scholar who specializes in early Hindi literature at University of Texas at Austin, notes that conservative Hindus also express admiration for Kabir. Kalpana Jain, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Nov. 2023 Garcetti began studying Urdu and Hindi, diving into the Vedas and other classical Indian texts before applying in his junior year to a Buddhist studies program in Bodh Gaya, the holy pilgrimage site where Buddha was enlightened. Courtney Subramanian, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2023 For instance, the ganja immortalized in reggae lyrics got its name from the Hindi word for cannabis, gāṁjā, after Indian laborers were taken to Jamaica in the 19th century. Simon Romero Alejandro Cegarra, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2023 Al Otro Lado, a group aiding migrants, is seeking volunteers who speak Russian, Pashto, Creole, French, Portuguese, Amharic, Hindi, Mandarin, Somali, Turkish and Vietnamese. Elliot Spagat, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2023 The country’s leading Hindi newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar, was raided by tax authorities in 2021 in the wake of a critical series of reports challenging the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, highlighting dead bodies floating in the river Ganges. Anant Gupta, Washington Post, 3 Oct. 2023 One such policy is the promotion of Hindi as the sole official language of India. Phillip M. Carter, Fortune, 27 Sep. 2023 Waheeda ji has been critically acclaimed for her roles in Hindi films, prominent among them, ‘Pyaasa,’ ‘Kaagaz ke Phool,’ ‘Chaudhavi Ka Chand,’ ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam,’ ‘Guide,’ ‘Khamoshi’ and several others. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 26 Sep. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'Hindi.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Hindi & Urdu hindī, from Hind India, from Persian

First Known Use

1782, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Hindi was in 1782

Dictionary Entries Near Hindi

Cite this Entry

“Hindi.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Hindi. Accessed 29 Nov. 2023.

Kids Definition

Hindi

noun
Hin·​di ˈhin-(ˌ)dē How to pronounce Hindi (audio)
: an official language of northern India
Hindi adjective
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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