“awful” in Arabic dialects
adjective
How do you say awful across the major spoken Arabic dialects? Compare awful (adjective) sense by sense across 5 dialects — Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Iraqi, Maghrebi — with English meaning, native script, transliteration and usage.
What does “awful” mean?
adjective
- Exceptionally bad or displeasing“atrocious taste”
- Causing fear or dread or terror“the awful war”
- Offensive or even (of persons) malicious; ; ; ; ; ; - Ezra Pound“in a nasty mood”
English definitions from Princeton WordNet.
Quick comparison across dialects
| Dialect | Arabic (awful) | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|
| Egyptian Arabic | وحش | weḥesh |
| Levantine Arabic | بشع | besheʿ |
| Gulf Arabic | خايس | khāyis |
| Iraqi Arabic | فظيع | faẓīʿ |
| Maghrebi Arabic | خايب | khayeb |
Full breakdown by dialect
Egyptian Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| وحش | weḥesh | very bad, unpleasant |
| فظيع | faẓīʿ | terrible, horrible |
| زفت | zeft | terrible, crappy (stronger slang) |
Levantine Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| بشع | besheʿ | awful, terrible, ugly |
| سيء | sayyeʾ | awful, bad |
| فظيع | faẓīʿ | awful, terrible |
| زفت | zefet | awful, terrible (strong, like 'crap') |
Gulf Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| خايس | khāyis | awful, rotten, terrible (strong, colloquial) |
| شين | shēn | bad, ugly, awful |
| سيء | sayyiʾ | bad, awful (more formal) |
Iraqi Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| فظيع | faẓīʿ | terrible, dreadful |
| مو زين | mō zēn | not good, bad |
| يلعب النفس | yilʿab in-nafis | nauseating, disgusting |
Maghrebi Arabic
| Word (Arabic) | Transliteration | English sense / usage |
|---|---|---|
| خايب | khayeb | very bad or unpleasant (Moroccan/Tunisian) |
| عيان | ʿayyan | very bad, of poor quality (Algerian) |
| كارثي | karithi | disastrous, terrible |
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