Literally 'professor' in Arabic, but used far more broadly in Dubai as a respectful form of address — similar to 'sir' or 'maestro'. A taxi driver might call you ustaz. You might call your Arabic tutor ustaz. In Egyptian Arabic (widely understood in Dubai due to decades of TV and film), it implies esteem for knowledge or expertise. A sign of the city's cultural layering: a word from the Nile spoken daily beside the Creek.