Word.ws English Dictionary

nabobs

nabobs is the plural of nabob.

Meaning of nabob

Noun

nabob (plural nabobs)

  1. (historical) An Indian ruler within the Mogul empire.
    • They have drained the treasuries of Nabobs, who must fill them by oppressing the industry of their subjects.1771, Henry Mackenzie, The Man of Feeling, London: Cassell, published 1886, page 151
  2. (broadly) Someone of great wealth or importance.
    • Mr. Glentworth had never quitted Europe, and his wealth was either good English landed property, or equally undeniable English consols; still he was a stranger, very rich, and suddenly come from abroad. Such a man was necessarily a nabob in Mr. Palmer's eyes. India had been the place for making...1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 114
  3. (broadly) A person with a grandiose style or manner.

Questions about nabobs

What is nabobs the plural of?
Nabobs is the plural of nabob.

Words near nabobs in the dictionary

  1. nabobical
  2. nabobish
  3. nabobishly
  4. nabobism
  5. nabobry
  6. nabobs
  7. nabobship
  8. nabobships
  9. nabocklesh
  10. nabocklish
  11. naboctate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: nabobs (page history and authors); nabob (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.

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Cite this entry: “nabobs.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nabobs. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.