Nair

American  

[nahyer, nahy-er] / naɪər, ˈnaɪ ər /

Also Nayer

noun

plural

Nair, Nairs

1. a group of Hindu castes in the Kerala region of India.

2. a member of any one of these castes.

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adjective

1. of or relating to this group of castes or their members.

Etymology

Origin of Nair

1580–85; < Portuguese naire < Malayalam nāyar members of ruling caste < Sanskrit nāya to lead

Example Sentences

An Indian national, Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, who worked for both companies as technical superintendent for the ship, the M/V Dali, is also named in the indictment unsealed on Tuesday.

From Barron's • May 12, 2026

And he didn’t exactly come from nowhere; he’s the son of filmmaker Mira Nair and is open about having been raised in privilege.

From Salon • Feb. 23, 2026

Glanville even tried using Nair, the hair-removal product, to fight the parasite.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026

Praveen Nair, 25, from the Bay Area, said the vigil also marked his first experience with snow on Brown’s campus since enrolling in the school’s computer science Ph.D. program this fall.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 15, 2025

Taylor’s instincts, honed during countless pageants when the one who claimed to be sweet was the one to put Nair in your shampoo, came crawling up her spine and into her cortex.

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray