fakir

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a Muslim religious mendicant, especially a Sufi ascetic who renounces material possessions

   The fakir lived on alms and devoted his days to prayer.

2. 2
   noun

   in broader historical usage, a Hindu ascetic or holy man, especially one associated with feats of endurance

   Travel accounts described a fakir who remained motionless for hours in meditation.

3. 3
   noun

   dated: a person who deceives others by claiming spiritual or magical powers

   The newspaper exposed the supposed healer as a fakir who used simple stage tricks.

Borrowed from Arabic faqīr ("poor, needy person"), a term used for a Muslim religious mendicant, especially in Sufi traditions. English later applied the word more broadly to South Asian ascetics and, in a dated figurative use, to fraudulent wonder-workers.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images