shikari means A hunter or tracker, especially in the Indian subcontinent. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 86 out of 100.
shikari is pronounced /ʃɪˈkɑːɹiː/.
Why “shikari” is a great word
SHIKARI — [Noun] A hunter or tracker, especially in the Indian subcontinent, or a type of shooting-boat used in the Kashmir lakes. From Urdu/Hindi शिकारी (śikārī), from Classical Persian شکاری (šikārī, "of hunting"), from شکار (šikār, "hunting, game"). Unlike a "sportsman," who hunts for pleasure, or a "poacher," who hunts outside the law, the shikari is a professional of the chase, a figure whose livelihood is woven from local knowledge. It is the silhouette reading the wind against a predawn sky; the patient, near-silent glide of that shallow craft through lotus stems; the expert eye that distinguishes a broken twig from a tiger's passing. His is the craft of understanding what others merely seek to possess.
Etymology
From Urdu شکاری / Hindi शिकारी (śikārī), from Classical Persian شکاری (šikārī, “of hunting”), from شکار (šikār, “hunting, game”).
noun
- A hunter or tracker, especially in the Indian subcontinent.“‘And if thou art not a shikarri, where didst thou learn thy knowledge of the tiger-folk?’ said he. ‘No tracker could have done better.’”
- A shooting-boat used in the Kashmir lakes.