A member of a Sufi Muslim ascetic fraternity of mendicant friars.
Used in a Sentence
dervish
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for dervish.
Editorial note
You probably mean a Dervish turning machine, with a halting problem?
Examples16
Definitions4
Parts of speech1
Quick take
A member of a Sufi Muslim ascetic fraternity of mendicant friars.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of dervish gathered in one view.
(Islam) An itinerant Sufi mystic practicing voluntary poverty in devotion to God, and often engaging in ecstatic rituals.
(by extension) Any irregular guerrilla fighter resembling the Sudanese Mahdi in equipment, uniform, tactics, etc.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for dervish.
noun
A member of a Sufi Muslim ascetic fraternity of mendicant friars.
noun
(Islam) An itinerant Sufi mystic practicing voluntary poverty in devotion to God, and often engaging in ecstatic rituals.
noun
(by extension) Any irregular guerrilla fighter resembling the Sudanese Mahdi in equipment, uniform, tactics, etc.
noun
(historical) One of the followers of Muhammad Ahmad, the Mahdi of the Sudan, in the 1880s.
Example sentences
You probably mean a Dervish turning machine, with a halting problem?
First read about it in the novel The Dervish House by Ian McDonald which involved the search for one.
You spout whatever combination of words would hurt you most to others, a whirling dervish of emotional weakness and impotency.
My favourite of his is The Dervish House, but his others are definitely worth reading.
The Dervish House from Ian McDonald has a plot thread based around that idea.
Reminds me of the bitbots in The Dervish House by Ian McDonald.
Each goose looked shocked, then confused, then terrified as they abandoned any thoughts of camaraderie and fled from this tiny whirling daemon dervish of death.
Use the Wim Hof method, become a whirling dervish, it doesn't matter so long as you're reinforcing that you have the ability to do anything at all.
It's also one of the few times we have an answer to how a hundred pound anime teenager can become a whirlwind dervish of mayhem.
It drones and twirls like dervish I found it broke down In my head Into verses Alternating Between a few And several syllables each And lo!
If you, however, are a professional, there's no problem with living simply, should you wish so, if that doesn't imply looking like a dervish or living literally in a cave.
He was the first European to see the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and live to tell the tale, something he accomplished by disguising himself as and adopting the language and customs of a wandering Dervish -- a daring feat which risked certain death if he was discovered.
Quote examples
I heard of a Turkish Dervish creating some sort of a “Western Sufi Order” where dance moves are taught.
The first time I heard about this term and practice was in Ian McDonald's "the dervish house"[1].
"But this gem of musical dervish-ness" Hits on the key point, in my opinion.
He was an initiated Nagar Brahmin and Kadiri Dervish; he became a member of the Ismaili sect, which claimed decent from the Assassins; and he was at various times a formal convert to Hinduism, Tantrism, Roman Catholicism, Sikhism and Islam." [2] He was a founder of The Cannibal Club [3], where men (of course they were all men) could openly discuss "subjects deemed deviant by society".
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use dervish in a sentence?
You probably mean a Dervish turning machine, with a halting problem?
What does dervish mean?
A member of a Sufi Muslim ascetic fraternity of mendicant friars.
What part of speech is dervish?
dervish is commonly used as noun.