- 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.
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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
Step off the 7 train, and languages quickly shift from Nepali and Bengali to Spanish and Tagalog as you walk between blocks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Even though my sister lives thousands of miles away, and my parents have been gone for nearly two decades, growing my Bengali plants here makes San Diego, home.
From Salon ● May 9, 2026
Adapted from a Bengali show called Sampoorna, Chiraiya has been reimagined for northern India, which is a much more patriarchal region.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
Besides, there are always pet names to tide one over: a practice of Bengali nomenclature granting, to every single person, two names.
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.
