mullah
Americannoun
-
(in Islamic countries) a title of respect for a person who is learned in, teaches, or expounds the sacred law.
-
(in Turkey) a provincial judge.
noun
Etymology
Origin of mullah
1605–15; < Persian or Urdu mullā < Arabic mawlā; see maulvi
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These days he’s a religious gent and a shepherd to drifting youth, a golf addict, sober as a mullah, and insists his critics have always taken him far too seriously.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
He also defended his actually making a personal call with a Taliban mullah, which was noted as having previously been “unthinkable” in media reports at the time.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 22, 2022
Pitiless, grainy close-ups capture him sipping tea with a mother and child — perhaps his brother’s family — in a blank apartment and, later, alongside a mullah in a mosque.
From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2021
“If the United States had not come to Afghanistan, I would have probably become a mullah or a Talib,” he said with a dark laugh.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 12, 2021
The mullah gave a few blessings, said a few words about the importance of marriage.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
