nabob

American  

[ney-bob] / ˈneɪ bɒb /

noun

1. any very wealthy, influential, or powerful person.

2. Also a person, especially a European, who has made a large fortune in India or another country of the East.

3. nawab.

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nabob British  

/ ˈneɪbɒbərɪ, neɪˈbɒbərɪ, ˈneɪbɒb /

noun

1. informal a rich, powerful, or important man

2. (formerly) a European who made a fortune in the Orient, esp in India

3. another name for a nawab

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Other Word Forms

• nabobery noun
• nabobical adjective
• nabobically adverb
• nabobish adjective
• nabobishly adverb
• nabobism noun
• nabobship noun

Etymology

Origin of nabob

From the Hindi word nawāb, dating back to 1605–15. See nawab

Example Sentences

This doesn’t sound like a con artist or a relentlessly negative nabob.

From Washington Post • Jun. 22, 2021

In the words of the inimitable Spiro Agnew, Mr. Reilly, you are a “nattering nabob of negativism.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 2, 2018

In 1992 Manchester City was owned by the Football Association nabob and hi-fi entrepreneur Peter Swales.

From The Guardian • Jul. 29, 2017

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

As for the people, he had nothing whatever to do with them; they returned some jolly 'squire, who feasted them well, or some nabob who purchased their votes.

From Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume II (of 2) Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte by Hamilton, Lady Anne