sari

S1A1R1I1
Western/ˈsɑː.ɹi/South Asia/sɑɽi/South Asia/sɑri/South Asia/sari/

noun

The traditional dress of women in the Indian Subcontinent; an outer garment consisting of a single length of cotton or silk, most often with one end wrapped around the waist to form a skirt, the other draped over the shoulder or head.

Similar
saree
OriginUrdu سَاڑِی (sāṛī) ← Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀸𑀟𑀻 (sāḍī) ← Hindi साड़ी (sāṛī) →
Less commonScrabble 4
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

sari1

nounsari (plural saris)

plural saris · alternative saree · alternative shari

  1. The traditional dress of women in the Indian Subcontinent; an outer garment consisting of a single length of cotton or silk, most often with one end wrapped around the waist to form a skirt, the other draped over the shoulder or head.

Sari2

proper noun
  1. A city in Iran, the seat of Sari County's Central District and the capital of Mazandaran Province.
  2. A county of Iran, around the city.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna dress worn primarily by Hindu women; consists of several yards of light material that is draped around the body

Similar
saree
Broader
dressfrock

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Sanskritशाट (śāṭa)
  2. Sanskritशाटी (śāṭī)
  3. Sauraseni Prakrit𑀲𑀸𑀟𑀻 (sāḍī)
  4. Hindiसाड़ी (sāṛī)
  5. Sauraseni Prakrit𑀲𑀸𑀟𑀻 (sāḍī)
  6. Urduسَاڑِی (sāṛī)
  7. Englishsari

Borrowed from Hindustani (Hindi साड़ी (sāṛī) / Urdu سَاڑِی (sāṛī)), in turn derived from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀸𑀟𑀻 (sāḍī), from Sanskrit शाटी (śāṭī), from शाट (śāṭa, “strip of cloth”). Doublet of shawl through Persian.

More words from Hindi, Urdu, Sauraseni Prakrit

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic سَارِي
  • سَارِي (sārī)cloth
Bengali শাড়ি
  • শাড়ি (śaṛi)cloth
Bulgarian сари
  • сари (sari)cloth
Chinese Mandarin 莎麗 /莎丽
  • 莎麗 /莎丽 (shālì)cloth
Danish sari
  • saricloth
Esperanto sario
  • sariocloth
Finnish sari
  • saricloth
French sari
  • saricloth
German Sari
  • Saricloth
Hindi साड़ी
  • साड़ी (sāṛī)cloth
Hungarian szári
  • száricloth
Icelandic sarí
  • sarícloth
Italian sari
  • saricloth
Japanese サリー
  • サリー (sarī)cloth
Korean 사리
  • 사리 (sari)cloth
Malay sari
  • saricloth
Persian ساری, ساره
  • ساری (sâri)cloth
  • ساره (sâre)cloth
  • ساری (sâri)city and county in Iran
Polish sari
  • saricloth
Portuguese sari
  • saricloth
Russian са́ри
  • са́ри (sári)cloth
Spanish sari
  • saricloth
Swedish sari
  • saricloth
Tamil புடவை, சேலை
  • புடவை (puṭavai)cloth
  • சேலை (cēlai)cloth
  • சீலை (cīlai)cloth
Thai ส่าหรี
  • ส่าหรี (sàa-rǐi)cloth
Turkish sari
  • saricloth
Urdu سَاڑِی
  • سَاڑِی (sāṛī)cloth

Rhymes & wordplay

Sounds the same

sorry (father–bother merger)sorry (father–bother merger, some speakers)

Anagrams

airsarisRisariassiraIsarAsir
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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