variants
or less commonly sherif
: a descendant of the prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima
broadly
: one of noble ancestry or political preeminence in predominantly Islamic countries
Examples of sharif in a Sentence
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The unlikely kingdom was a consolation prize for Abdullah, the second son of Hussein, the sharif of Mecca, whose family, the Hashemites, were descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
—
Ursula Lindsey, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020
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Ursula Lindsey, The New York Review of Books, 22 Oct. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Sharif.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sharif. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationBiographical Definition
Sharif
biographical name
Sha·rif
shä-ˈrēf 
Nawaz 1949– prime minister of Pakistan (1990–93; 1997–99; 2013–2017)
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