Gujarati
Americannoun
noun
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a member of a people of India living chiefly in Gujarat
-
the state language of Gujarat, belonging to the Indic branch of the Indo-European family
adjective
Usage
What is Gujarati? Gujarati is a language spoken in western India, particularly in the state of Gujarat, which is located on India’s western coast. Gujarati is also used to mean the speakers of this language and the citizens of Gujarat. Gujarati is an Indic language, coming from the same language family as Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, and many other languages spoken in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. According to the 2011 Indian Census, Gujarati is spoken as a first language by over 55 million people and is the sixth most popular language in India. Nearly 4. 6 percent of the Indian population speaks Gujarati as a first language. Relative to the other languages spoken in India, Gujarati is a young language, tracing back only to the 1100s. The earliest form of written Gujarati appeared in the 1185 narrative poem Bharateśvara-bāhubali-rāsa by Śālibhadra. Like several other Indian languages, spoken Gujarati is heavily based on Sanskrit and written Gujarati is based on the Devanagari script used by other Indic languages. Gujarati is written from left to right with an alphabet of 47 letters.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Gujarati
1600–10; < Hindi < Sanskrit Gurjara Gujarat
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:
But after Trump Jr. touched down, the two men toured the Ambanis’ private zoo, and at night they performed a Gujarati folk dance, grinning as they moved together to the music.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
“We now see participation in Bhangra from other Indian ethnicities like Gujarati — an influential community from India — or South Indian, Pakistani, and even non-South Asian backgrounds in the U.S,” Chahal said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026
“What she was doing was not about enlightenment or operating in a different dimension,” Gujarati said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
His close ally and fellow Gujarati, Home Minister Amit Shah, welcomed the Games announcement as "a day of immense joy and pride".
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
They were just the names of various Gujarati dishes.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
Many Indian Muslims in Malacca, however, especially Gujaratis, were aware of Portuguese attacks on Muslim merchants in India and opposed any dealings with the Europeans.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
For eight months, she flattered her way into the local élite, claiming that her film would focus on Gujaratis who were prospering under Modi’s tenure.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 2, 2019
His ancestors were Gujaratis who migrated to east Africa a century-and-a-half ago; his father moved to the UK in the early 1970s, to live with some of his extended family and attend secondary school.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 18, 2018
Had he lived in India, his clients would have been middle-class Hindus, and mostly Gujaratis at that.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2013
On Thursday, young, enthusiastic Gujaratis responded by headed to the polls in the Saurashtra region.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2012
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
