बूढ़ा
būṛhā/buː.ɽʱɑː/
To say old in Hindi, describing a person or animal who has lived many years, use बूढ़ा (būṛhā).
बूढ़ा (būṛhā) describes elderly people and animals. It is not used for old objects or buildings, which take a different word.
Meaning: of a living being: having lived for relatively many years (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
बूढ़ा is the masculine form. For a woman the final long a changes to a long i sound, and with plural or respectful masculine nouns it ends in an e sound.
How do you pronounce it?
The IPA is /buː.ɽʱɑː/, two syllables. The u is long like oo in food, and the middle consonant is a breathy flap made with the tongue curled back.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Calling an older person बूढ़ा directly can sound blunt. Politer expressions are used when speaking to or about elders.
Did you know?
- In many Indian cultures, using the word बूढ़ा to describe a grandparent can be seen as an insult because it emphasizes physical decay rather than the wisdom of age.
- The word बूढ़ा evolved from the Sanskrit वृद्ध (vṛddha) through centuries of spoken Prakrits, including the Ashokan Prakrit used during the reign of Emperor Ashoka.
- While बूढ़ा means 'old', the word वृद्ध (vŕddh) is a formal doublet of the same term used in high literature and official contexts.
Examples in context
- मैं बहुत बूढ़ा नहीं हूँ ।I'm not very old.बहुत बूढ़ा नहीं means "not very old", with नहीं for "not".Tatoeba #8889227 by simranbansal, translation #5856387 by CK
- टॉम बूढ़ा लगता है।Tom seems old.बूढ़ा लगता है means "seems old".Tatoeba #3617016 by sabretou, translation #3171205 by CK
- वह बूढ़ा किसान उसको बहुत पैसे नहीं देता था।The old farmer did not pay him much money.वह बूढ़ा किसान shows बूढ़ा before a noun, meaning "that old farmer".Tatoeba #514093 by minshirui, translation #44533 by CM
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Rahul and Neha are talking about their neighbor.
- राहुल Rahulक्या वह आदमी बूढ़ा है?Kya vah aadmi boodha hai?Is that man old?
- नेहा Nehaहाँ, वह बहुत बूढ़ा है।Haan, vah bahut boodha hai.Yes, he is very old.
- राहुल Rahulवह बहुत धीरे चलता है।Vah bahut dheere chalta hai.He walks very slowly.
- नेहा Nehaवह बहुत दयालु भी है।Vah bahut dayalu bhi hai.He is also very kind.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “old” translations and entries बूढ़ा, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries बूढ़ा, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
