sari
Americannoun
-
saris
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sari
1570–80; < Hindi sāṛī < Sanskrit śāṭī
Explanation
A sari is a piece of clothing that South Asian women often wear. If you go to a wedding in India, you'll probably see the bride wearing a red silk sari. A sari consists of one very long piece of fabric that's wrapped around the body and draped over a shoulder, and garments worn underneath, including a short-sleeved blouse. The style and fabric of a sari, as well as the way it's worn, varies between different regions and traditions. You can also spell this word saree. It comes from the Hindi sari and the Sanskrit root sati, "garment" or "petticoat."
Vocabulary lists containing sari
English Words Derived from Hindi
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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.
See Examples For:
With older members of the group struggling to climb the bank, Poonguzhali Ponmambadan, 61, unwrapped her sari dress and gave it to her husband to use as a rope.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
On a day that Nandini Harinath describes as the most important of her life, the Indian space scientist turned up to the office in a vibrant red and blue silk sari.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
"I asked her what object she'd be willing to part with. We agreed on the sari that she was wearing on the day Mangalyaan left Earth's orbit," Shindell said.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
"Usually, I feel alone. Here, I see so many like me," says Dhanshika, another member of the community, smiling as she watched friends dressed in their finest sari dresses.
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
Finally I fastened the silver earrings in my ears and wrapped the new chili-pepper-red sari as my mother instructed.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
The Bacevicius sisters, dressed in silk saris draped and pinned by maids at their hotel, got backstage access at the New Delhi wedding they attended.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
Many men wear the traditional knee-length kurtas for special occasions while flowing saris remain the most popular for women.
From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025
Drinking dipped substantially – after three years, by 41% among men and nearly 70% for women – and families had more disposable income: in the first year of prohibition, the sale of saris surged 1,715%.
From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2025
At a time when vivid reportage in the mainstream media was scarce, JS reporters filed reports from far-flung places making hand-woven carpets, denims and silk saris.
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2023
The gold was taken to a bank vault, the saris and blouses and petticoats put away in a mothproof box.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
