Dictionary

babu en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbɑːbuː/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindi बाबू (bābū), from Proto-New Indo-Aryan *बाब्ब (bābba), imitative of baby talk.

Meanings

1. (Hinglish, India, North) A Hindu title of respect, equivalent to Mr., usually appended to the surname of a Hindu man.
   • I could see Kana-babu’s sweet-shop at the end of their lane with absolute clarity. 1989, Amitav Ghosh, Shadow Lines:
2. (India, historical) Originally, a Hindu gentleman employed to work as a clerk for the colonial administration; now, a clerk or low-ranking government official.
   • Office babus are the real rulers of this country now. Our number's up. Best thing we can do is to shut up shop and let 'em stew in their own juice. 1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Chapter 2”, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC:
   • From the prevailing colonial perspective, the English of the babus was error-ridden and characterised by over-elaborate ornateness, and for these ‘transgressions’ it became the butt of native-speaker ridicule. 2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 116:
   • The Babu put on his cap and quietly dropped out of the window 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “His Chance in Life”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 57:
3. (India, derogatory, qualifier:chiefly social media) an archetypical Indian bureaucrat, perceived as being corrupt, lazy or arrogant.
   • BBMP doesn’t have any elected representatives right now. So a babu has floated this tender to benefit his favourite businessmen. 2025 July 10, @MehHarshil, X (Formerly Twitter):

Forms

Deriveds

babuism · babudom · babu English · babuji