NAWAB Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

nawab

noun

nə-ˈwäb

Definition of nawab

as in heavyweight

one of high position or importance within a group a meeting with the nawabs on the university's board of trustees

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of nawab The manuscript was acquired by Asaf-ud-Daula, nawab of Awadh, and was presented to King George III in 1798. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Apr. 2026 The lights dim, and a hush falls over the crowd, as the last nawab of Oudh strides onto the stage at Palo Alto’s Cubberley Theater. — Isha Trivedi, The Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2025 The Oudh descendants in Kolkata, where the nawab died in exile, had also rejected their claim. — Ellen Barry, New York Times, 22 Nov. 2019 In 1757, the East India Company commander Robert Clive defeated Bengal’s local ruler, or nawab, in battle and consolidated the company’s power in the province. — Maya Jasanoff, The New York Review of Books, 23 May 2019

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nawab

Noun

Few Brazilian political heavyweights were in attendance, in another sign of his troubles forming an alliance against Lula ahead of the October election.

— Mauricio Savarese, Los Angeles Times, 27 July 2026
Few Brazilian political heavyweights were in attendance, in another sign of his troubles forming an alliance against Lula ahead of the October election .

— ABC News, ABC News, 25 July 2026

Definition of heavyweight

Noun

Plus, if Seattle wants to move Magbegor to create space for the young bigs, then other teams will know the Storm are doing so from a position of weakness.

— Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 21 July 2026
Data show those players have about an 11% chance to reach the bigs (compared to about 81% for those picked in the first round).

— Joe Davidson, Sacbee.com, 14 July 2026

Definition of big

Noun

But all the nattering nabobs of negativism who’d normally have been concentrating on Maura’s catastrophic first term had to devote at least a little attention to recounting one of the Wu Klux Klan’s more embarrassing moments of 2025.

— Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 21 Jan. 2026
Back then, white scholars saw history through the eyes of society’s nabobs, kings and presidents.

— Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 2 Feb. 2025

Definition of nabob

Noun

Anchored by Valdez himself, now in his 80s and filling the camera frame like a grandfatherly lion, the film supplements his vivid biographical details with rich archival footage and testimonials from family members, collaborators and peers.

— Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 24 July 2026
Natural Selection’s new-build camp Tawana is set amid Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve, some 1,900 square miles of grassland and flood plain teeming with antelope and elephants, lions and hippos.

— Laura Dannen Redman, Robb Report, 23 July 2026

Definition of lion

Noun

The stay itself is deeply luxurious—no bedroom offers anything smaller than a queen bed.

— Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 29 July 2026
Scooby-Doo’s bag that opens to a pocket universe and is capable of storing an infinite amount of things, including refrigerators, giant sandwiches, and entire sets of flatware that belonged to the late queen?

— Brian Moylan, Vulture, 29 July 2026

Definition of queen

Noun

The bulk of the original tale — Lara’s encounter with her sea witch aunt Grace, her emergence into the world of humans, her romance with a dashing prince — is sped through in the show’s first 15 minutes.

— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 24 July 2026
The unidentified sitter, meanwhile, is believed to be a wife of a nawab, or an Indian prince.

— Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 24 July 2026

Definition of prince

Browse Nearby Words

navy

nawab

nawabs

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Nawab.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nawab. Accessed 30 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of nawab

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on nawab

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

sultry

Popular in Grammar & Usage

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

Your vs. You're: How to Use Them Correctly

Popular in Wordplay

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Games & Quizzes