Standard Lemma guide

coolie

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈkuːli/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -uːli

1

noun

Meaning 1

An unskilled Asian worker, usually of Chinese or Indian descent; a labourer; a porter. Coolies were frequently transported to other countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries as indentured labourers.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An Indian or a person of Indian descent.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Caribbean, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad-and-Tobago, ethnic, slur

Qualifier: South Africa and other parts of Africa

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

(ethnic slur) an offensive name for an unskilled Asian laborer

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cooly

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Asian, Asiatic

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindustani (Hindi क़ुली (qulī) / Urdu قلی (qulī, “hired laborer”)), possibly from Ottoman Turkish قول (kul, “servant”). Another theory says that it is named after Gujarati કોળી (koḷī), a Gujarati tribe or caste. Other forms occur in Bengali কুলি (kuli) and Tamil கூலி (kūli, “daily hire”). Possibly also influenced by Hindustani (कोली (kolī) / کولی (kolī, “weaver; low-class”)), or Persian کول (kūl, “shoulder [upon which goods are hauled]”). In Kurdish Koile (کۆیلە) and Quli (قولى): Slave, Servant. Kawli (Keweli): Low-Class, Gypsy. Mandarin 苦力 (kǔlì, “hard labor”) may also have been influenced by cognates of the above Hindi word in other languages and may have further influenced English.

Across languages

Translations

40 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: koelie — unskilled Asian worker
  • Burmese: ကူလီ (kuli) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Chinese Cantonese: 咕哩 (gu1 lei1) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Chinese: 苦役 (khó͘-ia̍h) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Chinese: 苦力 (khó͘-le̍k, khó͘-lo̍h) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Chinese: 居里 (ku-lí) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Chinese: 苦力 (ku-lí) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Chinese Mandarin: 苦力 (kǔlì) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Czech: kuli — unskilled Asian worker
  • Dutch: koelie — unskilled Asian worker
  • Finnish: kuli — unskilled Asian worker
  • French: coolie — unskilled Asian worker
  • German: Kuli — unskilled Asian worker
  • Greek: κούλης (koúlis) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Hindi: क़ुली (qulī) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Hindi: कुली (kulī) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Hindi: मज़दूर (mazdūr) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Hindi: मजदूर (majdūr) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Hungarian: kuli — unskilled Asian worker
  • Indonesian: kuli — unskilled Asian worker
  • Indonesian: pekerja kasar — unskilled Asian worker
  • Japanese: 苦力 (kūrī) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Khmer: គូលី (kuulii) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Korean: 쿨리 (kulli) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Malay: kuli — unskilled Asian worker
  • Polish: kulis — unskilled Asian worker
  • Portuguese: cúli — unskilled Asian worker
  • Portuguese: cole — unskilled Asian worker
  • Portuguese: cule — unskilled Asian worker
  • Russian: ку́ли (kúli) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Russian: чернома́зый (černomázyj) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Russian: чу́рка (čúrka) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Slovak: kuli — unskilled Asian worker
  • Spanish: culi — unskilled Asian worker
  • Swahili: kuli — unskilled Asian worker
  • Swedish: kuli — unskilled Asian worker
  • Turkish: köle — unskilled Asian worker
  • Urdu: قلی (qulī) — unskilled Asian worker
  • Vietnamese: cu li — unskilled Asian worker
  • Vietnamese: phu — unskilled Asian worker