ra9i راقي

Moroccan Darija · adjective

“ra9i” (راقي) is an adjective in Moroccan Darija meaning chic, upscale.

Meanings

1. chic, upscale
2. refined, distinguished (person, manners)
3. noble, majestic

Usage

Ra9i mostly describes a place, an object or a neighbourhood considered upscale: a restaurant, a hotel, a café or a ra9i neighbourhood. Applied to a person, it describes someone well brought up, with polished manners, and it can also describe behaviour: had chi ra9i, "that's classy". The feminine is ra9ya, the plural ra9yin. The word comes from the formal register but is widely used in everyday speech. Note: it does not mean "expensive" in itself, but a ra9i place generally is. For a simple aesthetic appreciation, one rather says zwin.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ra9i” but also “raa9i”, “raqi”, “rakii” and “ra9y”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 9 is qaf (ق), a k pronounced at the back of the throat.

Type “ra9i” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “high-quality, of a good standard”; “refined, well-mannered”: ra9i in Algerian.

In Tunisian Derja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “refined, distinguished”; “elegant, tasteful”: ra9i in Tunisian.