shikar means hunting, sport; a hunting expedition. It carries an Arena rating of 1525, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, shikar ranks #971 of 13,220 for Most Vivid Words, #1,991 of 13,220 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,037 of 13,220 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,419 of 13,220 for Most Malleable Words.
shikar is pronounced /ʃɪˈkɑː/.
Why “shikar” is a great word
The pursuit and killing of wild animals, especially as a formalized sport or elaborate expedition on the Indian subcontinent. From Urdu شکار and Hindi शिकार (śikār), from Classical Persian شکار (šikār, “hunt, game, prey”). Unlike a general “hunt” or an East African “safari,” shikar is inextricably tied to the royal and colonial traditions of India, evoking the opulent, often ruthless pageantry of the pursuit. It is the maharaja's howdah swaying on an elephant through tall grass, the scent of cordite mingling with damp earth, and the silent, sweating wait in a blind for a man-eating leopard—a ritual of dominion that turned living majesty into a relic, a brief, violent dirge for a vanishing wilderness.
Etymology
From Urdu شکار / Hindi शिकार (śikār), from Classical Persian شکار (šikār).
noun
- Hunting, sport; a hunting expedition.“Where other men took ten days to the Hills, Strickland took leave for what he called shikar, put on the disguise that appealed to him at the time, stepped down into the brown crowd, and was swallowed up for a while.”
- A hunt.“With us we had fifteen of the keenest and most cheerful hillman I have ever been associated with on a shikar.”
verb
- To hunt; to go hunting.“‘I wish I could have made him a gun-boy. There's no fun in shikarring alone, and this fellow would have been a perfect shikarri. I wonder what in the world he is.’”
Words closest in meaning
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