Pashto

American  

[puhsh-toh] / ˈpʌʃ toʊ /

Also Pushto.

noun

1. an Indo-European, Iranian language that is the official language of Afghanistan and the chief vernacular of the eastern part of the nation.

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Pashto British  

/ ˈpʌʃtəʊ /

noun

1. a language of Afghanistan and NW Pakistan, belonging to the East Iranian branch of the Indo-European family: since 1936 the official language of Afghanistan

2. a speaker of the Pashto language; a Pathan

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adjective

1. denoting or relating to this language or a speaker of it

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Pashto

An employee from the provincial education department said he had been using AI tools on his smartphone to translate between his native Dari and Pashto, the language used in government communications.

From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026

Here is a page from a U.S.-funded first-grade Pashto and math booklet created by University of Nebraska for kids in Afghanistan and Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan:

From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2025

"If we violate the ban, we face prison. If we comply, we face destitution," one unnamed farmer in Helmand province told BBC Pashto this summer.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025

Now, the network airs programming in four languages: Persian, Mandarin, Dari and Pashto.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2025

Tariq clenched his teeth and muttered something to himself in Pashto that Laila didn’t catch.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini