ghaddar غدار
Algerian Darja · adjective
“ghaddar” (غدار) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning treacherous, perfidious.
Meanings
- treacherous, perfidious
- disloyal, betraying trust
Usage
Ghaddar describes a person who betrays the trust placed in them: a friend who turns against you, a dishonest partner, an unfaithful lover. The word is common and fairly strong, but it is not vulgar. It is used as an adjective (rajel ghaddar) or as a noun (hada ghaddar). The feminine is ghaddara and the plural ghaddarin. It is often heard alongside other faults in a single list. It is also said, figuratively, of time or life (ed-dounia ghaddara), to speak of their instability. It belongs to the same family as the verb ghdar, "to betray".
Example
ما تأمنش فيه، راهو غدّار
ma tamench fih, rahou ghaddar
“Don't trust him, he's a traitor.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghaddar” but also “ghadar”, “gheddar”, “ghedar” and “8addar”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.
Type “ghaddar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “treacherous, disloyal”: ghaddar in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “treacherous, perfidious”; “betraying trust”: ghaddar in Tunisian.