bhangra

American

[bahng-gruh] / ˈbɑŋ grə /

noun

a type of popular dance music combining Punjabi folk traditions with Western pop music, fusing traditional drum-based music with elements of reggae, ragga, hip-hop, rock, soul, and dance.

bhangra British

/ ˈbæŋɡrə /

noun

a type of Asian pop music that combines elements of traditional Punjabi music with Western pop

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bhangra

Borrowed into English from Punjabi around 1985–90

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:

bhangra

She hopes these genres can take off in the U.K., as did Afrobeats, ska, bhangra and other musical styles that immigrant communities helped integrate into British popular music.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2025

"We love to throw together pop music with bhangra," explains band member Jaya.

From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2024

A video featuring Ranjit Singh Veer driving his bus in the West Midlands of Britain and leading a Punjabi bhangra dance crew has drawn tens of thousands of views.

From New York Times ● Jan. 20, 2023

The Punjab-born star, from Birmingham, had been a part of the UK bhangra scene since 1980 and formed the Safri Boyz Band in 1990.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2022

She’d never danced in front of anyone since the bhangra puke fiasco.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023