drongo

[ drong-goh ]

/ ˈdrɒŋ goʊ /

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noun, plural dron·gos.

any passerine bird of the family Dicruridae, of Africa, Asia, and Australia, the several species usually having black plumage and long, forked tails.

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Origin of drongo

Borrowed into English from Malagasy around 1835–45

Words nearby drongo

dromond, dromos, -dromous, drone, drone aircraft, drongo, dronklap, dronkverdriet, droob, drook, drookit

Other definitions for drongo (2 of 2)

drongo²

[ drong-goh ]

/ ˈdrɒŋ goʊ /

noun, plural dron·gos.Australian Slang.

a stupid or slow-witted person; simpleton.

Origin of drongo

1920–25; probably to be identified with drongo¹, as a name for the Australian bird Dicrurus bracteata; though often popularly alleged to have originated from the name of an unsuccessful racehorse of the 1920s

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use drongo in a sentence

First and foremost among these is the king-crow or black drongo (Dicrurus ater).
A Bird Calendar for Northern India|Douglas Dewar
Almost as widely distributed, but far less abundant, is the white-bellied drongo.
Jungle Folk|Douglas Dewar
In the Western Province of Ceylon it is replaced by a drongo having less white in the plumage.
Jungle Folk|Douglas Dewar
I have never seen the Dhouli, or white-bellied drongo, perched on anything but a branch of a tree.
Jungle Folk|Douglas Dewar

Looking up, I observed, perched on a bare branch at the summit of the tree, a white-bellied drongo.
Jungle Folk|Douglas Dewar

British Dictionary definitions for drongo

drongo

/ (ˈdrɒŋɡəʊ) /

noun plural -gos

Also called: drongo shrike any insectivorous songbird of the family Dicruridae, of the Old World tropics, having a glossy black plumage, a forked tail, and a stout bill

Australian and NZ slang a slow-witted person

Australian informal a new recruit in the Royal Australian Air Force

Word Origin for drongo

C19: from Malagasy

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