bhangi

American  

[buhng-gee] / ˈbʌŋ gi /

Or bhungi

noun

Indian English.

bhangis plural

1. Often Disparaging and Offensive. a member of one of the lowest castes of untouchables in India, traditionally relegated to work that included sweeping, handling dead bodies, or cleaning toilets.

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Sensitive Note

The use of bhangi to reference the caste status of a person or group is often offensive in and of itself. However, the word is always offensive when used as an insult or as a proxy term for slovenliness, contamination, or poverty. When used loosely to describe an undesirable, poor, or dirty state, bhangi is considered a slur.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bhangis
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bhangi

From Hindi bhaṅgī, literally, “user of bhang ”

Example Sentences

The Dholis responded by offering to beat their drums at Bhangi weddings.

From Time Magazine Archive

In 1911 persons returning themselves as Mehtar, Bhangi and Dom were separately classified, and the total of all three was only 30,000.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India - Volume IV of IV Kumhar-Yemkala by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)

The case is quite different in northern India, where the sweeper castes—the Chuhra in the Punjab, the Bhangi in the United Provinces and the Dom in Bengal—are all of them of great numerical strength.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India - Volume IV of IV Kumhar-Yemkala by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)

This grant is still in the possession of Bhangi Nāik’s descendant who lives at Musi, near Hingoli.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)

Bhangi and Jhangi had 180,000 pack-bullocks, and Bhagwān Dās 52,000.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)