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Synonyms

dhoti

American  
[doh-tee] / ˈdoʊ ti /
Also dhooti,

noun

  • dhotis
    plural
  1. a long loincloth worn by many Hindu men in India.

  2. the cotton fabric, sometimes patterned, of which the loincloth is made.


dhoti British  
/ ˈduːtɪ, ˈdəʊtɪ /

noun

  1. a long loincloth worn by men in India

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of dhoti

Borrowed into English from Hindi around 1615–25


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:

In the film, he ditches the white dhoti for a more stylish blue one - which he pairs with a funky suit decorated with intricate Indian motifs, and a cool hard-part haircut.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2023

Reinvigorated and clad in a saffron dhoti, Ram exacts revenge on the despotic British governor with the help of his burly friend Bheem, who bears a resemblance to the Hindu god Hanuman.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 12, 2022

His legs, stick-thin within the loose folds of a dhoti, are pulled close to his chest.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 9, 2019

An affable man, seemingly indifferent to appearances, he wore a worn orange dhoti and white shirt with a blue ink stain billowing out beneath the pocket.

From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2019

But when we got there after many hours, the crowds stood so thick, thousands of people from many villages, that I only got a small glimpse of him, far away in his white dhoti, waving.

From "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani

The Croatian designer culled from different religious traditions, pairing his signature voluminous trenches and wide-cut blazers with dhotis that looked snatched off a Hindu sadhu or North African harem pants in earthy fibers.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 27, 2010

New Delhi National Stadium bulged last week with Indian families in traditional saris and dhotis, but that was as far as tradition went.

From Time Magazine Archive

Two of the chief mourners on the duck which bore Gandhi's ashes were Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel, both clad in white dhotis, both barefoot.

From Time Magazine Archive

Among the fertile coffee plantations on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, lounge-suited leaders of the progressive Chagga tribe queued up at polling stations alongside white planters in khaki shorts and Asian shopkeepers in dhotis.

From Time Magazine Archive

His photographs had an immense sale, and by-and-by the young Bengalee bloods took to wearing dhotis with Khudiram Bose's name woven into the border of the garment.

From Indian Unrest by Sir Valentine Chirol

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