Meaning & use
agarbatti
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Meanings
nouncountableIndian
A thin stick covered with a substance that smells sweet when burned, used in worship or to scent a room.
Grammar: Countable: one agarbatti, two agarbattis; the plural is common in shops and temples.
Patterns
- light an agarbatti
- burn agarbattis
She lit an agarbatti in front of the small shrine.
The shop sells agarbattis in many fragrances, from sandalwood to jasmine.
The smell of agarbatti filled the whole house during the festival.
noununcountableIndian
The fragrant material in such sticks, considered as a product or substance.
Grammar: Uncountable when it means the product in general: a packet of agarbatti.
Patterns
- a packet of agarbatti
- the scent of agarbatti
They bought a packet of agarbatti at the market.
The scent of agarbatti hung in the air after the ceremony.
Word forms
| plural | agarbattis |
|---|
Common combinations
- light an agarbatti
- He lit an agarbatti before saying his prayers.
- burn agarbatti
- They burn agarbatti every evening at dusk.
- the scent of agarbatti
- The scent of agarbatti greeted us at the door.
- a packet of agarbatti
- She picked up a packet of agarbatti on the way home.
Synonyms and how they differ
- incense stick
- The everyday general English term; use it with readers who may not know the Indian word.
- joss stick
- An older British term for the same thing, often linked with Chinese temples.
Word family
- agarbatti stand noun
- A small holder for burning incense sticks.
Commonly confused: agarbatti or incense?
agarbatti vs incense
Incense is the general substance that smells sweet when burned; an agarbatti is one stick-shaped form of it.
Practice
In which sentence is 'agarbatti' used correctly?
Choose one answer.
An agarbatti is a fragrant stick that is burned, so it fills a room with scent. It is not food, not paper for writing, and not money.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “agarbatti”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.