yaar

/ jɑːr /

noun

informal.
a friend: often used between males in direct address

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Word History and Origins

Origin of yaar¹

Hindi

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More About Yaar

What does yaar mean?

Yaar is an informal Indian English term for friend. It can also be a term for a lover, and is especially associated with Bollywood.

How is yaar pronounced?

[ yahr ]

Where does yaar come from?

Yaar means “friend” in Hindi. It’s a popular term in Indian English, used especially as a term of address for “friend.” It ultimately comes, via Hindi, from the Persian and Arabic yar, meaning “friend,” and is recorded in English as early as the 1960s.

Yaar is roughly equivalent to such terms of address as British English mate or American English buddy. Like these words, yaar is used for your actual friends but also to address any man (and increasingly women), even just acquaintances, in a friendly way, e.g., Pass me a drink, yaar.

Easy…I am defending my fav – you are defending yours… enjoy the clash, and this happens every year….. chill maaro yaar

now continue… you were saying? 😂😉 https://t.co/Qt90r028iG

— HerdHUSH (@HerdHUSH) November 12, 2018

If you have a yaar, then you’ve found yaari, “friendship.” This can be a common friendship or have a more romantic connotation.

According to Google Trends data, the term yaar has become increasingly searched online since 2011, perhaps coinciding with the growing popularity of Bollywood film and culture outside India.

Friends? Yes this whatsapp msg from my YAAR letting me know that he is bringing this stuff for me from spain ☺ Dost pic.twitter.com/6YBHq6qarx

— Memoir Of A Traveler (@FaysalAbbaci) November 13, 2018

A viral Indian video from 2018 features a guru, feeling disrespected, saying, “I am not your yaar” in response to a girl’s question where she refers to him as such. The video clip is often juxtaposed with Bollywood videos for ironic effect.

How is yaar used in real life?

Yaar is a very popular and common term in India, both in English and Hindi. It has been particularly associated with certain tropes in Bollywood since the 1970s. In Bollywood, many songs refer to the desire for a yaar or to be in yaari with someone. These songs often have strong sexual overtones, which has led to the interpretation of yaar in some contexts as being more romantic than platonic.

#LyricsLeak

This is the Bollywood movies inspired item number "Fuddu Yaar" (Dumb Friend). I'll try and get in touch with @annazak12 (her management) and see if she would be interested in the project. We'll go from there. Also, Rap (which is what..https://t.co/Vi6l9kBtX6

— Amanpreet Singh Rai (@PeaceLoveAdvice) November 11, 2018

The popularity of yaar in Indian pop culture has led to its use throughout Indian populations abroad.

My yaar running quite the experiment in Stockton. Innovation in government at its finest @MichaelDTubbs https://t.co/Q6kjLc81BS

— Sheel Tyle (@sheeltyle) May 30, 2018

Yaar is so ubiquitous, apparently, that it’s sometimes used in India as shorthand for the discourse marker or tag question “You know?” or “Do you understand?”, e.g., I’ll call you later, yaar?

Yaar is also used as a male given name in Arabic.

More examples of yaar:

“Recently, the actress shared her dance rehearsal video which is getting viral. In the video, she is dancing on the song ‘Yaar Naa Miley’ from Salman Khan’s film ‘Kick’.”

—Times of India, November 2018

Note

This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.

yaaas yaba

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