The short answer
“Kindly intimate” means “please inform” or “please let [someone] know.” “Intimate” as a verb is real, dictionary-correct English — but it is a formal, colonial-era word that virtually disappeared from everyday English elsewhere. Indian government offices, courts, and institutions kept using it, so it still appears constantly in RTI applications, circulars, and official letters.
Old-Fashioned vs. Modern
Old-Fashioned
Kindly intimate us of your decision at the earliest.
Modern English
Please let us know your decision as soon as possible.
Old-Fashioned
You are requested to kindly intimate the date of the meeting.
Modern English
Please inform us of the meeting date.
Old-Fashioned
Kindly intimate the undersigned in case of any change.
Modern English
Please notify me if there are any changes.
Old-Fashioned
It is requested that the department may kindly intimate the status.
Modern English
Please share the status with us.
Why Do People Say It?
“Kindly intimate” belongs to the same family as “do the needful” and “your good self” — formal vocabulary from British colonial-era administrative and legal English that travelled to India through 19th-century government correspondence. Once fixed in the formal register of Indian offices, courts, and legal filings, it kept getting reused and taught long after Britain itself moved on to plainer, more direct formal writing.
Search any Indian RTI application, court judgment, or government circular today and “kindly intimate” still appears constantly — it is not a mistake, it is a genuinely surviving fossil of the same formal register.
Exam tip
In IELTS Writing (formal letters and emails) and in modern professional correspondence, replace “kindly intimate” with “please inform,” “please let me know,” or “please notify.” Examiners mark it as outdated, non-standard register — not as a grammar error, but as a fluency and naturalness deduction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 'kindly intimate' grammatically wrong?+
No — 'intimate' is a real, dictionary-recognized verb meaning to state or make known formally. It is grammatically correct, but it is an archaic, highly formal register that has almost disappeared from everyday modern English outside Indian government and legal correspondence.
Why do Indian offices say 'kindly intimate'?+
It is a holdover from British colonial-era administrative and legal English, where 'intimate' was standard formal vocabulary for 'to notify'. Britain moved on to plainer modern English decades ago, but Indian government offices, courts, and institutions kept using the older formal register, so the phrase remains a fixture of RTI applications, circulars, and official letters today.
What should I write instead of 'kindly intimate' in modern English?+
Use 'please inform', 'please let me know', or 'please notify'. These are standard in modern formal English, including IELTS Writing and international professional correspondence.
Read Next
Why Is 'Your Good Self' Old-Fashioned?
The sibling formal-address phrase from the same colonial-office lane
Why Is 'Do the Needful' Wrong?
Another colonial-era Indian office-English phrase
Why Is 'Out of Station' Wrong?
1800s British railway English India kept, Britain forgot
IELTS Writing Grammar Guide
Band 7+ rules for formal register and word choice