Bengali

American  

[ben-gaw-lee, -gah-, beng-] / bɛnˈgɔ li, -ˈgɑ-, bɛŋ- /

noun

1. a native or an inhabitant of Bengal; Bengalese.

2. an Indic language spoken in E India and Bangladesh.

3. Bengalee.

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adjective

1. of or relating to Bengal, its inhabitants, or their language; Bengalese.

Bengali British  

/ bɛŋ-, bɛnˈɡɔːlɪ /

noun

1. a member of a people living chiefly in Bangladesh and in West Bengal. The West Bengalis are mainly Hindus; the East Bengalis of Bangladesh are mainly Muslims

2. Also called: Bangla.  the language of this people: the official language of Bangladesh and the chief language of West Bengal; it belongs to the Indic branch of the Indo-European family

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adjective

1. of or relating to Bengal, the Bengalis, or their language

Example Sentences

"Everything is there. I was stuck here," he told AFP in Karachi, near the well-known Bengali market where he peddles desiccated fish and prawns to make ends meet for $7 to $9 per day.

From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026

Overnight, Singh became Bollywood's most relateable voice, recording across many languages - Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu - and sometimes singing multiple songs in a single film.

From BBC • Jan. 28, 2026

In our Bengali household, traditional rice pudding is called Payesh.

From Salon • Jan. 10, 2026

He made campaign videos in Hindi and Bengali, among other languages.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 19, 2025

But in Bengali, a finger can also mean fingers, a toe toes.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri