durbar means A ceremonial gathering held by a ruler in India. It carries an Arena rating of 1477, earned across 51 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, durbar ranks #2,674 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #3,409 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #3,972 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #4,092 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
Why “durbar” is a great word
DURBAR — [Noun] A formal ceremonial assembly or audience held by a ruler or high official in an Indian or Persianate context. From Hindustani (Urdu/Hindi) دربار / दरबार (darbār), from Classical Persian دربار (darbār, "royal court"), from dar ("door") + bār ("entry, audience"). First recorded in English 1600–10. Unlike "court," a general term for a sovereign's residence and retinue, or "assembly," any broad gathering, a durbar is a theater of state, a meticulously staged confluence of power and pageantry. It is the precise geometry of nobles ranked before a throne, the shimmer of jewels in a marble hall, and the palpable weight of a silk petition passing from a supplicant's hand—a ritual where politics is performed as spectacle, and authority is made visible in the very act of being approached.
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindustani دربار / दरबार (darbār), in turn borrowed from Classical Persian دربار (darbār, “royal court”).
noun
- A ceremonial gathering held by a ruler in India.e.g.“Sir Salar Jung was proceeding to the palace of the Nizam on his bocha, a sort of state palanquin, in order to be present at the customary Eed durbar... when two shots in rapid succession were fired.” — 1868 February 7, "Englishman", "Attempted Assassination of Sir Salar Jung...", Hyderabad Times, Vol. III, p. 41
- An audience chamber.
- The body of officials at a royal or princely court in India.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- darbari 71% match — One who attends a darbar. vs durbar →
- darughah 55% match — A tribal or city prefect or magistrate. vs durbar →
- indaba 54% match — A tribal conference held by Nguni leaders. vs durbar →
- chobdar 54% match — A member of a Hindu caste found in the state of Rajasthan in India. vs durbar →
- nabob 53% match — An Indian ruler within the Mogul empire. vs durbar →
- sirdar 53% match — A high-ranking person in India and other areas of west-central Asia; a chief, a headman. vs durbar →
- turbaning 53% match — A ceremony in Hausa-Fulani culture, in which someone is formally installed in a new position of power or traditional importance in the community. vs durbar →
- rajbari 52% match — a mansion or palace built as a residence for a Hindu rajah, typically in India or Bangladesh. vs durbar →