kutcha

English

Alternative forms

• cutcha, kacha, kachcha, kuchcha

Etymology

From Hindi कच्चा (kaccā, “raw, unripe”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkʌtʃə/

Adjective

kutcha (comparative more kutcha, superlative most kutcha)

1. (South Asia) Imperfect, makeshift; ramshackle, second-rate.
2. (South Asia, of a building) Made with natural materials, especially unfired mud and thatch.
   • 2016 July 7, K. Kalpana, Women, Microfinance and the State in Neo-liberal India, Routledge, →ISBN, page 129:

     The manager publicly announced that the kutcha house loan was for those who lived in thatched huts and the linkage loan for those who lived in tiled houses!

Antonyms

• pukka

Noun

kutcha (uncountable)

1. (South Asia) Dried brick or mud, used as a material.
   • 1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 215:

     The only reasonable objection that could be made was its being cutcha—that is, built with mud instead of mortar.

   • 1909, Rudyard Kipling, “The Hill of Illusion”, in Under the Deodars (The Works of Rudyard Kipling), Edinburgh de Luxe edition, Boston, Mass., London: The Edinburgh Society, →OCLC, page 84:

     Does the Station go on still? That was ages and ages ago. It must be crumbling to pieces. All except the Amirtollah kutcha road. I don't believe that could crumble till the Day of Judgment.

Derived terms

• kutcha house
• kutcha-pukka

 

Anagrams

• Kuchta