noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A master or teacher in the context of martial arts, especially kung fu and tai chi.

   "Who is -- don't get cute with me, you dumb bastard, I'm your sifu."

2. 2
   A spiritual father in esoteric contexts.

Synonyms

All synonyms

gurugurusenseisenseishifu

Example

More examples

"Who is -- don't get cute with me, you dumb bastard, I'm your sifu."

Etymology

From Cantonese 師傅／师傅 (si1 fu6-2, “master”) and 師父／师父 (si1 fu6-2, “my master”), both also conveying the sense of teacher.

Related phrases

kung fumartial artstai chi

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.