nabob
Americannoun
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any very wealthy, influential, or powerful person.
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Also a person, especially a European, who has made a large fortune in India or another country of the East.
noun
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informal a rich, powerful, or important man
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(formerly) a European who made a fortune in the Orient, esp in India
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another name for a nawab
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of nabob
From the Hindi word nawāb, dating back to 1605–15. See nawab
Vocabulary lists containing nabob
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.
His work quickly made him controversial among civic boosters, who dismissed him as a negative nabob who didn’t want the city to thrive.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 15, 2025
This doesn’t sound like a con artist or a relentlessly negative nabob.
From Washington Post • Jun. 22, 2021
Jaffrey starred in his first major Indian film two years later, appearing as a chess-obsessed nabob in The Chess Players, which also featured Richard Attenborough as a British general.
From BBC • Nov. 16, 2015
The nabob was "a controversial new species of grandee who made his fortune in India and returned home to enjoy his treasure".
From The Guardian • Jan. 26, 2013
Emily said, in a low voice, "that is our nabob, Squire Lee."
From Cora and The Doctor or Revelations of A Physician's Wife by Leslie, Madeline
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.
