HOW TO PRONOUNCE
sheikh
/ʃik/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:39
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What does sheikh mean?
noun
- The leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe.
- An Islamic religious cleric; the master of a Sufi order.
- An official title for members of the royal family as well as some prominent families.
More meanings (7)
noun
- (slang) An Arab, especially one dressed in traditional clothing.
- A member of one of the three hereditary, traditionally endogamous Yazidi castes, taking certain spiritual and leadership roles.
- An honorific for specialists in spirituality, for example in Sufism.
- The title of a sheikh.
- Alternative letter-case form of sheikh (Yazidi caste)
- (archaic, slang) A romantic lover.
proper noun
- A surname from Arabic
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ʃik/
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
While thus pleasantly engaged, an aged sheikh comes to the tent and straightway begins "kicking up a blooming row" about me.
In many of the wadis, and particularly in the gorges between Wadi Feiran and Wadi Esh Sheikh, there are water-worn banks showing that, at no very remote period, the winter floods must have risen fifty feet in channels where the growth of acacias and tamarisks and the testimony of the Arabs concur to prove that they have not risen six feet within the memory or tradition of the present inhabitants.