bangle
Americannoun
noun
-
a bracelet, usually without a clasp, often worn high up round the arm or sometimes round the ankle
-
a disc or charm hanging from a bracelet, necklace, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bangle
1780–90; < Hindi banglī, variant of bangrī glass ring, armlet
Explanation
A bangle is an inflexible but loose-fitting bracelet, worn alone or with many other bangles, on your wrist. Bollywood dancers are often outfitted with many gold bangles. A bangle is generally made out of some hard material like gold, silver, wood, plastic, or ivory. In most parts of South Asia, bangles are very commonly worn by women — there are special bangles that a bride, for example, traditionally wears at her wedding. In Hinduism, it's actually considered bad luck for a bride not to wear bangles. The root of bangle is the Hindi word bangri, "colored glass bracelet or anklet."
Vocabulary lists containing bangle
The Skin I'm In
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The Bridge Home
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The Night Diary
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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.
Is it an avenue you want to put energy toward, still, and what has it meant to your life and identity to be a Bangle?
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2025
West Brompton station has been renamed Ivory Bangle Lady, the name given to the remains of a high-status North African woman from fourth-century Roman York.
From BBC • Oct. 12, 2021
The Zombies hail from rock music’s original British Invasion in the 1960s, and Bangle frontwoman Susanna Hoffs will induct them.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 29, 2019
I bought my wife the Monkey Charm Bangle, and its card noted that “the ancient Mayans portrayed the monkey as an openhearted being that was ever in a state of creative and joyful wonder.”
From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2014
Estha gave her a Chinese Bangle, twisting the skin on her wrist different ways with each of his hands.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Definitions 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.
