What does fakeer mean?
A fakeer is a religious ascetic or mendicant, most often found in South Asian contexts, who renounces worldly possessions and supports himself through alms. The word — usually spelled "fakir" in contemporary English — can refer either to a Muslim Sufi ascetic or, by extension, to a Hindu holy man such as a sadhu, reflecting how the term was adopted by European observers for whom the outward life of poverty and austerity looked much the same across faiths. In nineteenth-century British writing, "fakeer" also carried a looser, sometimes sensational sense, attached to wandering performers and conjurers credited with extraordinary feats. Today the spelling survives chiefly in older texts, and readers should be careful not to mistake it for "faker", meaning a counterfeit person. The word evokes renunciation, piety, and hardship, and remains useful when discussing South Asian religious life or colonial-era literature.
nounA fakeer is a Muslim or Hindu religious ascetic or mendicant, especially in South Asia, who lives by begging; a variant spelling of 'fakir'.
- A Muslim or Hindu religious ascetic or mendicant in South Asia who lives by begging.
- (Historical, loosely) any itinerant conjurer or performer associated with ascetics in India, as in the older phrase 'fakeer's tricks' for feats like the Indian rope trick.
"The fakeer sat motionless beneath the banyan tree, accepting only what pilgrims placed in his bowl."
"Villagers brought rice and ghee to the fakeer whose shrine stood at the edge of the desert."
"Colonial travelogues described marvels attributed to the fakeer, half saint and half showman."
The standard English plural simply adds -s; in South Asian contexts, pluralized forms borrowed via local languages may also be seen, but "fakeers" is normal in English prose.
"Several fakeers gathered along the riverbank at dawn."
Spelled with an extra 'e', this word doesn't mean a liar — it names a holy man who owns almost nothing and lives on alms.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fakeer
"Fakeer" comes ultimately from the Arabic faqīr, meaning "poor" or "needy", which came to denote one who is poor in the sight of God and dependent on divine bounty. The term passed through Persian and Urdu into the languages of India, and entered English in the early seventeenth century through contact with Mughal India. English speakers adopted several spellings, including "fakir", "faqir", and "fakeer", all preserving the original idea of spiritual poverty.
How fakeer is actually used
"Fakeer" is now a less common variant of "fakir", encountered mainly in older British colonial writing and in some South Asian usage. Because of its similarity to "faker", modern writers generally prefer "fakir" — or more specific terms such as "sadhu" (Hindu) or "dervish" (Sufi) — to avoid ambiguity.
Easily confused with fakeer
A 'faker' is someone who counterfeits or pretends, while a 'fakeer' is a religious ascetic — the two differ only slightly in spelling but entirely in meaning.