ENGLISH
REFERENCE

guru

n.
US //ˈɡuˌɹu// UK //ɡjˈʊɹuː// gu·ru
  1. 1 an expert or mentor (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Informal

    someone who knows a lot about a subject and gives advice to others.

    an influential expert or mentor in a specific field, often used in business or technology contexts.

    Example

    If you have questions about social media, you should talk to Sarah; she is the office guru.

    Example

    The company hired a management guru to streamline their operations and improve employee morale after the merger.

    Usage

    Often used with a noun modifier to specify the field of expertise.

    Teacher's tip

    While common in business, using this for any expert can sometimes sound slightly humorous or informal.
Origin

Borrowed from Hindi गुरु (guru) / Punjabi ਗੁਰੂ (gurū), from Sanskrit गुरु (guru, “venerable, respectable”), originally "heavy" and in this sense cognate to English grieve and, more distantly, brute. Doublet of grave. A traditional, though flawed etymology based on the Advayataraka Upanishad (line 16) describes the syllables gu as “darkness” and ru as “destroyer”, thus ascribing the meaning of “one who destroys/dispels darkness” to the word.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Last updated June 20, 2026