Meanings
- South AsiaSweets; confectionery.
Central to that celebration is mithai, or sweets. Mass-produced mithai are readily available online, but these five independent shops make their sweets by hand every day, offering their local South Asian communities a taste of the familiar.
2022 October 17, Priya Krishna, “It’s Not Diwali Without Mithai”, in The New York Times1 more example
Mr. Alam and his staff often insist that visitors enjoy a free treat like chocolate barfi, condensed milk mixed with chocolate, or jalebis, deep fried rice flour coated in a sugary syrup, while they shop. “I want my customers to feel welcome and offering mithai is a way to show hospitality,” Mr. Alam said.
2018 January 17, Shivani Vora, “A Go-To Grocery for Indian Cooks”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Origin
- Hindiमिठाई
- Englishmithai
From Hindi मिठाई (miṭhāī).
More words from Hindi
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
mithai. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mithai
“mithai.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mithai. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mithai,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mithai.
Source: mithai on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.