"chamcha" meaning in English

See chamcha in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: chamchas [plural]
Etymology: Borrowed from Hindi चम्चा (camcā, “sycophant, hanger-on, lackey”, literally “spoon”). Etymology templates: {{bor|en|hi|चम्चा|lit=spoon|t=sycophant, hanger-on, lackey}} Hindi चम्चा (camcā, “sycophant, hanger-on, lackey”, literally “spoon”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} chamcha (plural chamchas)
  1. (India, colloquial) A sycophant and hanger-on or lackey. Tags: India, colloquial Categories (topical): Indian politics, People Related terms: chamchagiri (english: meaning spooning or sycophancy)
    Sense id: en-chamcha-en-noun--4GLcL52 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Indian English, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hi",
        "3": "चम्चा",
        "lit": "spoon",
        "t": "sycophant, hanger-on, lackey"
      },
      "expansion": "Hindi चम्चा (camcā, “sycophant, hanger-on, lackey”, literally “spoon”)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Hindi चम्चा (camcā, “sycophant, hanger-on, lackey”, literally “spoon”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "chamchas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "chamcha (plural chamchas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Indian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Indian politics",
          "orig": "en:Indian politics",
          "parents": [
            "India",
            "Politics",
            "Asia",
            "Society",
            "Earth",
            "Eurasia",
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            "Nature",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1989. Stuart Auerbach. Washington Post. (Mar. 26) “Nehru and His Nation”\nM J Akbar has been called a chamcha to the Gandhi family, and some of that slavish devotion shows up in his uncritical acceptance of Nehru’s government-dominated economic program and the erosion of the country’s grass roots political structure as a result of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994. William Dalrymple City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi (Dec. 1) “Glossary” p. 340",
          "text": "Chamcha Sycophant (lit. ‘spoon’). 1997. Ghulam Nabi Azad. India Today (June 23) p. 13: I have my own standing in the party. I cannot be anybody’s chamcha (stooge)."
        },
        {
          "text": "1997. Sudhir Vaishnav. Times of India. (Aug. 24) “A very political exercise”\nSeveral hangers-on. They are available aplenty everywhere in the country and are often known in the local market as Chamcha."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998 January 17, “In Praise of Chamchagiri”, in P.S. Sharma Times of India:",
          "text": "No doubt, the United Kingdom also had their sycophants—toadys, bachhas, jholichuks and hukkabardars—but chamchas of the modern vintage they had none. Chamchas are a breed apart.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004. Krishnakumar. Midday (Mumbai, India) (Sept. 21)",
          "text": "Leaders’ chamchas get lucky”: All three have pulled strings in their respective parties to get Assembly poll tickets for their puppets and close confidants, better known in political parlance as chamchas."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A sycophant and hanger-on or lackey."
      ],
      "id": "en-chamcha-en-noun--4GLcL52",
      "links": [
        [
          "sycophant",
          "sycophant"
        ],
        [
          "hanger-on",
          "hanger-on"
        ],
        [
          "lackey",
          "lackey"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(India, colloquial) A sycophant and hanger-on or lackey."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "english": "meaning spooning or sycophancy",
          "word": "chamchagiri"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "India",
        "colloquial"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "chamcha"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "hi",
        "3": "चम्चा",
        "lit": "spoon",
        "t": "sycophant, hanger-on, lackey"
      },
      "expansion": "Hindi चम्चा (camcā, “sycophant, hanger-on, lackey”, literally “spoon”)",
      "name": "bor"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Hindi चम्चा (camcā, “sycophant, hanger-on, lackey”, literally “spoon”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "chamchas",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "chamcha (plural chamchas)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "english": "meaning spooning or sycophancy",
      "word": "chamchagiri"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms borrowed from Hindi",
        "English terms derived from Hindi",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Indian English",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Indian politics",
        "en:People"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "1989. Stuart Auerbach. Washington Post. (Mar. 26) “Nehru and His Nation”\nM J Akbar has been called a chamcha to the Gandhi family, and some of that slavish devotion shows up in his uncritical acceptance of Nehru’s government-dominated economic program and the erosion of the country’s grass roots political structure as a result of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1994. William Dalrymple City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi (Dec. 1) “Glossary” p. 340",
          "text": "Chamcha Sycophant (lit. ‘spoon’). 1997. Ghulam Nabi Azad. India Today (June 23) p. 13: I have my own standing in the party. I cannot be anybody’s chamcha (stooge)."
        },
        {
          "text": "1997. Sudhir Vaishnav. Times of India. (Aug. 24) “A very political exercise”\nSeveral hangers-on. They are available aplenty everywhere in the country and are often known in the local market as Chamcha."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1998 January 17, “In Praise of Chamchagiri”, in P.S. Sharma Times of India:",
          "text": "No doubt, the United Kingdom also had their sycophants—toadys, bachhas, jholichuks and hukkabardars—but chamchas of the modern vintage they had none. Chamchas are a breed apart.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2004. Krishnakumar. Midday (Mumbai, India) (Sept. 21)",
          "text": "Leaders’ chamchas get lucky”: All three have pulled strings in their respective parties to get Assembly poll tickets for their puppets and close confidants, better known in political parlance as chamchas."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A sycophant and hanger-on or lackey."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sycophant",
          "sycophant"
        ],
        [
          "hanger-on",
          "hanger-on"
        ],
        [
          "lackey",
          "lackey"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(India, colloquial) A sycophant and hanger-on or lackey."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "India",
        "colloquial"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "chamcha"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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