Holi
Americannoun
noun
Usage
What is Holi? Holi is a two-day Hindu spring festival that’s primarily celebrated in India. It’s especially known for festive street celebrations in which people cover each other with colored powder. Holi is pronounced the same as the word holy. It’s sometimes known as the Festival of Colors.
Etymology
Origin of Holi
1905–10; < Hindi holī < Prakrit holiyā < Skt holikā
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.
People light bonfires the evening before Holi in the belief this will destroy the bad so that good can triumph.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
Some are made for celebration, like Holi or Thanksgiving, with full plates and full hearts.
From Salon ● May 26, 2025
Millions of Indians are celebrating Holi, known as the festival of colours, at home and abroad.
From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2024
Holi is celebrated at the end of winter and the beginning of spring, on the last full moon day of the Hindu luni-solar calendar month of Falgun.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2024
It was Holi, the feast that celebrates the god Krishna’s love for the fair Radha.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
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.
