guru

American  

[goor-oo, goo-roo] / ˈgʊər u, gʊˈru /

noun

• gurus
  plural

1. Hinduism. a preceptor giving personal religious instruction.

2. an intellectual or spiritual guide or leader.

3. any person who counsels or advises; mentor.

   The elder senator was her political guru.

4. a leader in a particular field.

   the city's cultural gurus.

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guru British  

/ ˈɡuːruː, ˈɡʊruː /

noun

1. a Hindu or Sikh religious teacher or leader, giving personal spiritual guidance to his disciples

2. derogatory a leader or chief theoretician of a movement, esp a spiritual or religious cult

3. facetious a leading authority in a particular field

   a cricketing guru

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guru Cultural  

1. In Hinduism, a teacher or spiritual leader.

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Discover More

By extension, a “guru” is a teacher who attracts disciples or followers.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• guruship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• gurus
  plural

Etymology

Origin of guru

1820–30; < Hindi gurū < Sanskrit guru venerable, weighty

Explanation

A guru is a spiritual teacher and leader, particularly in the Hindu and Buddhist traditions. It has been said that your guru will find you when you are ready for your study — your journey — to begin. The noun guru is a Sanskrit word which also means “weighty,” or “grave.” A guru might teach you about meditation and compassion, or how to live your life according to certain precepts and truths. There is also another kind of guru — an expert leader in any field. You can be a guru of accounting or even of pizza-making if you are very good at it and can guide others to greater understanding.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guru gurus

The average year sees the New York Stock Exchange experience 21 days when downside volume is 80% or more of the action, according to BTIG’s technical guru Jonathan Krinsky.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

Broadly speaking, he earned his reputation as a late-career guru by encouraging acts to focus on the basics—classic songwriting, unadorned arrangements.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

The vision that bore his name became Auroville in 1968 through the work of his French-born spiritual companion Mirra Alfassa, who herself became a guru known as "The Mother".

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

For twenty years, a series of presidents and many ordinary Americans viewed him as a financial guru, and a talisman against bad times.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Gotham was founded by a value investment guru named Joel Greenblatt.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

This is not the language of Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, the gurus of value investing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

He says he often sees self-proclaimed "fitness gurus" on social media who are encouraging others to reduce their sleep to fit more in, but he believes that's not the answer.

From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2026

He has little use for those gurus who tell us that we can “conquer the world.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

No. The wild-eyed gurus do more harm than good.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 3, 2026

Cadres of expensive professionals—lawyers, accountants, computer gurus, helpline responders—drain vast sums of money from the economy to clarify poorly drafted text.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• master
• teacher
• tutor