Brahmin

American  

[brah-min] / ˈbrɑ mɪn /

noun

plural

Brahmin, Brahmins

1. Hinduism. Brahman.

2. (especially in New England) a person usually from an old, respected family who, because of wealth and social position, wields considerable social, economic, and political power.

3. a person who is intellectually or socially aloof.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of a Brahmin.

   the Brahmin attitudes of a true aristocrat.

Brahmin British  

/ ˈbrɑːmɪn /

noun

1. the older spelling of Brahman

2. (in the US) a highly intelligent or socially exclusive person, esp a member of one of the older New England families

3. an intellectual or social snob

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Other Word Forms

• Brahminic adjective
• Brahminical adjective
• non-Brahminic adjective
• non-Brahminical adjective
• un-Brahminical adjective

Etymology

Origin of Brahmin

First recorded in 1475–85; variant of Brahman ¹

Example Sentences

A disillusioned, admittedly misanthropic Boston Brahmin, Lowell came to see himself as a scientist with the soul of a poet, or a poet with scientific instincts.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 22, 2025

In his 2021 book Woke Inc., he wrote about his family’s position as Brahmin, often considered the highest of Hindu castes.

From Slate • Nov. 9, 2023

Sawant, who identifies as a socialist, has acknowledged her own personal privilege, noting that she grew up in an upper-caste Hindu Brahmin household in India and witnessed caste discrimination first-hand.

From Salon • Mar. 5, 2023

Born in 1996 in a poor Brahmin family in Chhatarpur district's Gada village, he dropped out after a few years of education to work to supplement the family income.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2023

Chacko’s hero, Comrade E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the flamboyant Brahmin high priest of Marxism in Kerala, became Chief Minister of the first ever democratically elected Communist government in the world.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Related Words

• courteous
• elegant
• genteel
• polite