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DictionaryfakirReligious ascetic
noun

fakir

fuh-KEER/fəˈkɪr/

A person who practices strict self-denial for religious reasons, often living by begging.

The fakir lives simply and depends on donations for food.

A Hindu ascetic sits in devotional meditation beside a small stone Shiva lingam shrine, wearing a plain, worn ochre wrap, with prayer beads and an empty alms bowl.
Etymology
fakirArabica poor man

The designation “poor man” came to describe a Muslim holy man who lived by begging, linking poverty with religious devotion. English later extended the term to Hindu ascetics.

In context

DW Documentary9:02
Gandhi and his followers were arrested, but it was a victory for the man who Churchill contemptuously called the half- naked Fakir.
Mahatma Gandhi – dying for freedom | DW Documentary

More examples

  • Villagers offer the fakir food as he passes through.
  • The fakir owns little and spends hours in prayer.
  • These fakirs practice fasting as part of their religious discipline.

Forms

fakir · fakirs

Similar words

ascetic
A broader term for someone practicing rigorous self-denial.
mendicant
Emphasizes living by begging rather than religious self-denial.