mtwadha3 متواضع

Algerian Darja · adjective

“mtwadha3” (متواضع) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning humble, modest (person).

Meanings

1. humble, modest (person)
2. modest, limited (means)

Usage

Mtwadha3 is used mainly to praise a simple person without arrogance, especially an approachable celebrity: "fannan kbir w mtwadha3". It also describes limited means: a modest capital, salary or home. The feminine is mtwadh3a. The word comes from Standard Arabic but is well integrated into speech and online comments. Its common opposite is metkabber, "arrogant". Pronunciation varies: you also hear the emphatic d, hence the spelling mtwade3.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “mtwadha3” but also “metwadha3”, “mtwade3”, “motawadi3” and “mtwad3”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 3 is ayn (ع), a voiced sound from deep in the throat with no English equivalent.

Type “mtwadha3” on the Arabic keyboard

In Moroccan Darija

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “humble, unassuming”; “modest, unpretentious”: mtwade3 in Moroccan.