snēhita
"friend (male)" in spoken Kannada is snēhita. It's a noun (masculine) that you'll first encounter in Lesson 10: I Went to Mysuru of the KannadaMaadi course, where Anu and Ravi use it in context.
Grammar note Sanskrit-origin; female form snēhite
Heard in a real Bengaluru conversation
Words land faster when you hear them inside a real sentence. snēhita is used in Lesson 10 (I Went to Mysuru, CEFR A2) — a short audio conversation between Anu and Ravi set in a recognisable Bengaluru situation.
Open Lesson 10 →