nawab
Americannoun
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Also a viceroy or deputy governor under the former Mogul empire in India.
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an honorary title conferred upon Muslims of distinction in India and Pakistan.
noun
Etymology
Origin of nawab
1750–60; < Urdu nawwāb < Arabic nuwwāb, plural of nā'ib deputy, viceroy
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.
The story goes that the mutton galouti kebabs that have defined the city amongst visitors were created to feed an ageing nawab who had lost his teeth.
From BBC • Dec. 19, 2025
In the popular lexicon, the term black hole once suggested only the legendary hellish cell in Calcutta in which British prisoners were held by an 18th century Indian nawab.
From Time Magazine Archive
The nawab was a stout man, though young, and it was his ambition to make his way in life quickly.
From The Great Mogul by Tracy, Louis
Clive selected it, on account of its commanding position, as the cantonment for the brigade of troops lent him by the nawab of Oudh.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5 "Cat" to "Celt" by Various
He took his seat as governor of Fort St David on the day on which the nawab of Bengal captured Calcutta, and thither the Madras government at once sent him, with admiral Watson.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various
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.
