Bollywood

Bol·ly·wood
B3O1L1L1Y4W4O1O1D2
UK/ˈbɒ.li.wʊd/US/ˈbɑ.li.wʊd/

proper noun

The Hindi-language film industry located in Mumbai.

Similar
Urduwood
OriginEnglish Hollywood ← Portuguese Bombaim ← Late Latin baia →
CommonScrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proper noun

alternative B'wood

  1. The Hindi-language film industry located in Mumbai.

    Bollywood is also very commonly known as both tinsel town and B-town, neither of which is listed in the dictionaries.

    2012, James Lambert, “Beyond Hobson-Jobson: A new lexicography for Indian English”, in World Englishes, page 302
  2. broadlyabroad; often erroneously; abroad; often erroneouslyThe cinema of India in general, no matter the region.

    Fawad Khan, an actor, singer and producer with a huge following in India, announced his Bollywood comeback last week, sending fans into a frenzy, 18 months after an Indian court effectively ruled that a de facto industry ban on Pakistani talent imposed in 2016 was illegal.

    2025 April 7, Rhea Mogul, “Pakistani star’s Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right”, in CNN

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar
Urduwood

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dewh₂-der.?
  2. Proto-Italic*dwenos
  3. Old Latinduonus
  4. Latinbonum
  5. Old Galician-Portuguesebõo
  6. Portuguesebom
  7. Iberianbadia?
  8. Late Latinbaia
  9. Portuguesebaía
  10. PortugueseBombaim
  11. EnglishBombay
  12. EnglishHollywood
  13. EnglishBollywood

Blend of Bombay + Hollywood.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic بُولِيوُود
  • بُولِيوُود (buliwūd)Indian film industry
Bengali বলিউড
  • বলিউড (boliuḍ)Indian film industry
Bulgarian Боливуд
  • Боливуд (Bolivud)Indian film industry
Chinese Mandarin 寶萊塢 /宝莱坞
  • 寶萊塢 /宝莱坞 (Bǎoláiwù)Indian film industry
Finnish Bollywood
  • BollywoodIndian film industry
French Bollywood
  • BollywoodIndian film industry
German Bollywood
  • BollywoodIndian film industry
Greek Μπόλιγουντ
  • Μπόλιγουντ (Bóligount)Indian film industry
Hebrew בוליווד
  • בוליוודIndian film industry
Hindi बॉलीवुड
  • बॉलीवुड (bŏlīvuḍ)Indian film industry
Italian Bollywood
  • BollywoodIndian film industry
Japanese ボリウッド
  • ボリウッド (Boriuddo)Indian film industry
Korean 볼리우드
  • 볼리우드 (Bolliudeu)Indian film industry
Persian بالیوود
  • بالیوودIndian film industry
Portuguese Bollywood
  • BollywoodIndian film industry
Punjabi ਬਾਲੀਵੁੱਡ
  • ਬਾਲੀਵੁੱਡ (bālīvuḍḍa)Indian film industry
Russian Болливу́д
  • Болливу́д (Bollivúd)Indian film industry
Spanish Bollywood
  • BollywoodIndian film industry
Tamil பாலிவுட்
  • பாலிவுட் (pālivuṭ)Indian film industry
Thai บอลลีวู้ด
  • บอลลีวู้ด (bonlee-wóodo)Indian film industry
Ukrainian Болліву́д
  • Болліву́д (Bollivúd)Indian film industry
Urdu بالی وڈ
  • بالی وڈ (bālī oḍ)Indian film industry
Vietnamese Bollywood
  • BollywoodIndian film industry

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Bollywood

HollywoodTollywoodLollywoodKollywoodNollywoodDhollywoodGollywoodMollywoodPollywoodTrollywood
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

Bollywood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bollywood

MLA

“Bollywood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bollywood. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Bollywood,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Bollywood.

Source: Bollywood on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.