Definition of GURU

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In Hinduism, a guru is a personal spiritual teacher. In ancient India, knowledge of the Vedas (a body of liturgical literature) was transmitted orally from guru to pupil. The rise of the bhakti movement, which emphasizes the love of devotees for a personal god, further increased the importance of gurus, who were often looked on as living embodiments of spiritual truth and were identified with the deity. Gurus prescribe spiritual disciplines to their devotees, who follow their dictates in a tradition of service and obedience. Men or women may be gurus, though generally only men have established lineages.

Examples of guru in a Sentence

He has been a guru to many young writers. She's a self-proclaimed financial guru. Fitness gurus call it the hottest new exercise trend of the year.

Recent Examples on the Web

It’s time to turn things over to marketing and meda guru Orlando Gutierrez, who will tell us about the upcoming weekend at Los Alamitos. — Houston Mitchell, latimes.com, "Racing! Are you still on holiday today?," 5 July 2019 The show features resident fashion expert Tan France, food guru Antoni Porowski, hairstylist Jonathan Van Ness, culture expert Karamo Brown and home designer Bobby Berk. — USA TODAY, "Mermaid Parade, Lincoln’s Bible, District 12: News from around our 50 states," 24 June 2019 In Four Men Shaking: Searching for Sanity with Samuel Beckett, Norman Mailer, and My Perfect Zen Teacher (Shambhala, $16.95), Shainberg tries to make sense of his relationships with these oddly assorted gurus. — Christopher Tayler, Harper's magazine, "New Books," 24 June 2019 Ad Astra features an introduction by screenwriter and Trailers From Hell guru Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt). — Clark Collis, EW.com, "Vintage ads for Ghostbusters, Blade Runner, Jedi showcased in new book Ad Astra," 21 June 2019 Caplan is a New Haven native, architectural designer, historian, author, tour operator and pizza guru. — Carole Goldberg, courant.com, "Write Stuff: Hartford Circus Fire, the ‘Elegant Warrior’, nonviolent action," 19 June 2019 Among the people to take notice was popular YouTube-famous cosmetics guru Jeffree Star. — Ann Zaniewski, Detroit Free Press, "YouTuber's claim to 'Gay Hell,' Mich. to last 3 days — but still has big impact," 18 June 2019 Seekers flocked to central Oregon in the early 1980s to learn Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s secrets to inner peace and communal harmony. — oregonlive.com, "‘Wild Wild Country’ leads to ‘Wild Wild’ Portland seminar to evaluate bizarre Rajneeshee episode in Oregon," 14 June 2019 These grain gurus could, quite literally, spend their whole careers tasting, testing, and torturing themselves in pursuit of the perfect recipe. — Andrew Daniels, Popular Mechanics, "Here Comes the World’s First AI-Generated Whisky," 10 May 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guru.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.