Brahmin

[ brah-min ]

noun,plural Brah·min, Brah·mins.
  1. Hinduism. Brahman1 (def. 1).

  2. (especially in New England) a person usually from an old, respected family who, because of wealth and social position, wields considerable social, economic, and political power.

  1. a person who is intellectually or socially aloof.

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a Brahmin: the Brahmin attitudes of a true aristocrat.

Origin of Brahmin

1
First recorded in 1475–85; variant of Brahman1

Other words from Brahmin

  • Brah·min·ic [brah-min-ik], /brɑˈmɪn ɪk/, Brah·min·i·cal, adjective
  • non-Brah·min·ic, adjective
  • non-Brah·min·i·cal, adjective
  • un-Brah·min·i·cal, adjective

Words that may be confused with Brahmin

Words Nearby Brahmin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Brahmin in a sentence

  • One engineer and former contractor for Cisco said he was temporarily removed from a WhatsApp group with other Cisco workers after sharing a news story critical of Brahmin supremacy.

  • I didn't realize that in part they were an engine for perpetuating the Brahmin class of New England.

    My Conversation with John Updike | Barbara Probst Solomon | January 29, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Yet how came it that even a low-caste mongrel of a Lascar should offer such an overt insult to a Brahmin!

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • He heard Mohammedans alluding to a Brahmin as a leader—so might a wolf and a snake make common alliance against a watch dog.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • “I shall renew the bombardment, and put every one of you to death in a few days,” threatened the Brahmin.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • Chumru had long ago decided to send the Brahmin to the place where all unbelievers go, at the first suitable opportunity.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • They erect altars to the god Rama beneath its shade, and there, too, the Brahmin instructs his scholars.

British Dictionary definitions for Brahmin

Brahmin

/ (ˈbrɑːmɪn) /


nounplural -min or -mins
  1. the older spelling of Brahman (def. 1)

  2. (in the US) a highly intelligent or socially exclusive person, esp a member of one of the older New England families

  1. an intellectual or social snob

Derived forms of Brahmin

  • Brahminic or Brahminical, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012