Gandhigiri
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The practice of Gandhism (“the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, encompassing tenets such as non-violent activism”), often expressed through unorthodox forms of activism such as depositing flowers or planting trees. India, uncountable
""Gandhigiri showed us a way of judging a person's character and this is a tip [I] have been using in office and social gatherings ever since I saw the movie," Shweta [Polanki] says. […] "My impressions of Gandhi have changed post-Gandhigiri. Though I may not implement all that is said in the precise way it was preached by Gandhi, but the message is there at the back of my mind," says Archana Satnani, a bank executive."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples""Gandhigiri showed us a way of judging a person's character and this is a tip [I] have been using in office and social gatherings ever since I saw the movie," Shweta [Polanki] says. […] "My impressions of Gandhi have changed post-Gandhigiri. Though I may not implement all that is said in the precise way it was preached by Gandhi, but the message is there at the back of my mind," says Archana Satnani, a bank executive."
Etymology
Borrowed from Bombay Hindi गांधीगिरी (gāndhīgirī), from Hindi गांधी (gāndhī) (the surname of the Indian lawyer and anti-colonial nationalist Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) who used non-violent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule) + -गिरी (-girī, “suffix meaning ‘the act of; doing’”). The Hindi word was coined in the movie Lage Raho Munna Bhai (Keep Going, Munna Bhai, 2006), in which it was used by the lead character who is a gangster in contrast to dadagiri (“gang rule; intimidating behaviour”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.