baksheesh
Syllables: bak·sheesh/bækˈʃiːʃ/
baksheesh noun: in the Middle East or southwest Asia: a bribe or tip.
Noun
baksheesh (usually uncountable, plural baksheeshes)
- In the Middle East or southwest Asia: a bribe or tip.
- What an honour to think that I am to be elevated to the throne, and to bring the seat in Parliament as backsheesh to the sultan!1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Temptation”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 265
- As we rode into Magdala not a soul was visible. But the ring of the horses' hoofs roused the stupid population, and they all came trooping out—old men and old women, boys and girls, the blind, the crazy, and the crippled, all in ragged, soiled and scanty raiment, and all abject beggars by nature...1869, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XLVIII, in The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company. […], →OCLC, pages...
- Synonyms:
- grease payment, lubrication payment
- A minor wound that necessitates the evacuation of a soldier from the combat zone for medical treatment.
- When we had made the boys as comfortable as possible and given them fags, of which our Padre seemed to have an inexhaustable^([sic]) supply, they were quite cheerful, and joked about “backsheesh” wounds.1981, The Kia Ora Coo-ee: The Magazine for the ANZACS in the Middle East, 1918, →ISBN
- Clearly the preferred wound, it ranked in seriousness between a 'buckshee' or 'baksheesh', a slight would that merely took a man out of the line for a short time, and a 'N.Z. smack', which meant being invalided back to New Zealand, usually disabled for life.2009, Gavin McLean, Penguin Book Of New Zealanders At War, →ISBN
- Synonyms:
- buckshee, Blighty one
Verb
baksheesh (third-person singular simple present baksheeshes, present participle baksheeshing, simple past and past participle baksheeshed)
- To bribe with a baksheesh.
baksheesh meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
baksheesh in Hindi
- bribe or tip
- बख़्शीश baxśīś
baksheesh in Tamil
- அன்பளிப்பு, பரிசு, விருப்பளிப்பு, லஞ்சம்
baksheesh in Marathi
- bribe or tip
- बक्षीस bakṣīs
baksheesh in Urdu
- bribe or tip
- بخشیش baxśīś
More languagesFewer languages
- baksheesh in Gujarati
- બક્ષિસ bakṣis
- baksheesh in Arabic
- بَقْشِيش baqšīš
- baksheesh in Persian
- بخشیش baxšiš, انعام en'âm
Synonyms of baksheesh
Forms of baksheesh
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | baksheeshes |
| alternative form | bachshish |
| alternative form | bakshee |
| alternative form | backsheesh |
| alternative form | backshish |
| alternative form | backsishe |
| alternative form | bacsheese |
| alternative form | bacshish |
| alternative form | bakhshish |
| alternative form | bakhshîsh |
| alternative form | bucksheesh |
| alternative form | buckshish |
| alternative form | buksheesh |
| alternative form | bukshish |
| alternative form | buxees |
| alternative form | buxies |
| alternative form | buxie |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | baksheeshes |
| present participle | baksheeshing |
| past participle | baksheeshed |
Origin of baksheesh
From Turkish bahşiş, from Persian بخشیش (baxšiš, “present; an honorary or pecuniary gratuity; drink-money”) or بخشش (baxšeš), from بخشیدن (baxšidan, “to give, grant, bestow”).
Words formed from baksheesh
Words that rhyme with baksheesh
Questions about baksheesh
- What does baksheesh mean?
- Baksheesh means in the Middle East or southwest Asia: a bribe or tip.
- What is baksheesh in Hindi?
- Baksheesh in Hindi is बख़्शीश (baxśīś). See Baksheesh meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is baksheesh?
- Baksheesh can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce baksheesh?
- Baksheesh is pronounced /bækˈʃiːʃ/.
- What is the plural of baksheesh?
- The plural of baksheesh is baksheeshes.
Words near baksheesh in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: baksheesh (page history and authors); baksheesh (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-baksheesh.wav.
Cite this entry: “baksheesh.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/baksheesh. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.