Word
guru
Phoneticsgu·ru
US/ˈɡuˌɹu/
UK/ɡjˈʊɹuː/
Definition
n. someone who knows a lot about a subject and gives advice to others.
n. an influential expert or mentor in a specific field, often used in business or technology contexts.
Examples
“She is a marketing guru who helps small businesses grow.”
“After years of successful investing, he became a financial guru for people looking to retire early.”
“The tech guru's keynote address was met with intense scrutiny by industry analysts who questioned the feasibility of his long-term vision for artificial intelligence.”
Examples
simple
“She is a marketing guru who helps small businesses grow.”
contextual
“After years of successful investing, he became a financial guru for people looking to retire early.”
complex
“The tech guru's keynote address was met with intense scrutiny by industry analysts who questioned the feasibility of his long-term vision for artificial intelligence.”
Usage
Often used with a noun modifier to specify the field of expertise.
Teaching tip
While common in business, using this for any expert can sometimes sound slightly humorous or informal.
Real-World Examples
“Meghan recently got into a dust-up with lifestyle guru Martha Stewart.” “He has also brought in Austin MacPhee, Aston Villa’s set-piece guru.” Etymology
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.