Definitions
Friend, mate. Borrowed from Hindi/Urdu दोस्त / دوست, itself ultimately from Persian dōst. In South Asian English the word carries a warmer, more loyal connotation than the plain English "friend" — a dost is closer to a brother-in-arms, the friend you keep for life. Used as a noun for the friend themselves ("my dost from college") and occasionally as a direct address ("dost, sun"). Cross-cultural usage in Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi English alike, and a staple of Bollywood lyrics where lifelong friendship is being celebrated.
Arre yaar, this is my dost from school days, we have known each other since age six.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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Other words near "dost" (D)
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Related terms
Semantically related
- 65%
Hindi / Urdu for "friend, buddy, man." Sprinkled into Indian English casually the way "mate" or "bro" is — "come on yaar, let's go." Works as address, filler, or emphatic closer. Ubiquitous across South Asian English.
- 62%
Hindi/Urdu for "brother"; widely used as a friendly address between men regardless of actual relation. Extended into Indian English as a casual "bro."
- 59%
(especially, North India) friend, dude, man.
- 58%
Definite, confirmed, solid, authentic, genuine. From Hindi पक्का (also Urdu پکا, Punjabi), literally meaning "ripe" or "cooked" — by metaphorical extension "fully formed", "the real thing". In South Asian English used to certify everything from plans ("pakka plan" = confirmed plan, definitely happening) to friendships ("pakka friend" = true friend, ride-or-die) to construction ("pakka house" = a permanent brick-built house, as opposed to a kachha mud-walled one). Also used to confirm a fact in conversation: "Pakka?" — "Pakka." The opposite is "kachha" (raw, unfinished, unreliable). One of the most universally understood words across Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi speakers.
- 58%
Borrowed into Anglo-Indian English from Hindustani 'diqq' (distress, nuisance), itself from Arabic. Commonly spelled 'dikk' or 'dik' in 18th–19th century British India writing; equivalent in register to 'bother' or 'grief', and still echoed in modern South Asian 'dikkat' (problem, difficulty).