rhib رهيب
Algerian Darja · adjective
“rhib” (رهيب) is an adjective in Algerian Darja meaning awesome, great, impressive.
Meanings
- awesome, great, impressive
- terrible, intense (negative sense)
Usage
Rhib is used mostly as praise in youth speech and on social media: "montage rhib", "match rhib", an awesome edit, a great match. The vowel is often stretched in writing (rhiiib) for emphasis. It also keeps its original sense of intensity, often unpleasant: "fragh rhib", a terrible emptiness. Only context tells whether it is positive or negative. The feminine is rhiba. The register is informal.
Example
الماتش البارح كان رهيب!
el match lbareh kan rhib!
“Yesterday's match was awesome!”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “rhib” but also “rahib” and “rhiba”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “rhib” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “awesome, amazing (informal, positive)”; “frightening, dreadful”: rhib in Moroccan.
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “awesome, excellent, impressive”; “terrible, frightening, huge”: rhib in Tunisian.