- a variation of Bengalee.
noun
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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
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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
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
According to a copy of the full report obtained by BBC Bengali, it highlighted issues like Milestone School's lack of compliance with building codes.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
When mother and son sing songs from the famous cycle by Bengali writer-composer and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore or hold a deathbed conversation in Bangla, the piece spins further across time and space.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
I cook everything I can get from the expensive grocer near Hillcrest, but I want to cook something Bengali.
From Salon ● May 9, 2026
Nonetheless Bengali voters were seen as allergic to the BJP for decades.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
Some summers there had been road trips with one or two Bengali families, in rented vans, going to Toronto or Atlanta or Chicago, places where they had other Bengali friends.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Add to this the perception, used effectively by Ms. Banerjee five years ago, that the BJP was the party of landlocked Hindi-speaking North Indian vegetarians alien to the fish-eating Bengalis of the coast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
There are estimated to be over a million ethnic Bengalis now living in Pakistan, many of whom arrived during the war, after which East Pakistan declared independence and became Bangladesh.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so far-fetched to say that us Bengalis have an ingrained adoration for Payesh.
From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2026
Hilsa holds an almost sacred status among Bengalis on both sides of the border, and its scarcity will frustrate many.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2024
Together we explored the city and met other Bengalis, some of whom are still friends today.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
