bindi

British

/ ˈbɪndɪ /

noun

a decorative dot worn in the middle of the forehead, esp by Hindu women

"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 bindi

Hindi

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.

In 2023 she was awarded the Bafta Fellowship, the academy's highest accolade for a career on screen and marked her triumph by placing a bindi on her Bafta saying it "represented change".

From BBC • Aug. 9, 2024

Prior to that, in the 1990s, the ska artist turned pop star often wore a Hindu bindi and styled her hair in South African Bantu knots.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2023

The bindi — the dot-like forehead ornament — is perhaps her most famous signature, applied and multiplied onto sculptures and abstract paintings.

From New York Times • Sep. 15, 2022

Dressed in a peach-colored silk sari, with a big red bindi on her forehead and a delicate gold chain around her neck, she appeared glowing.

From Slate • Apr. 30, 2021

I remember her going to India for spring break and returning with a bindi on her head and photos of her smiling Indian cousins.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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