Definition of "mandarin" in English

noun

1. (historical) A high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire.

2. A pedantic or elitist bureaucrat.

3. (sometimes derogatory) A pedantic senior person of influence in academia or literary circles.

4. (ornithology) Ellipsis of mandarin duck.

5. (informal, British) A senior civil servant.

6. A figurine of a Chinese person with movable head that was popular in the 1950s. (Cf. bobblehead.)

adjective

1. Pertaining to or reminiscent of mandarins; deliberately superior or complex; esoteric, highbrow, obscurantist.

noun

1. Ellipsis of mandarin orange:

2. An orange colour.