7assas حساس
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“7assas” (حساس) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning sensitive, touchy.
Meanings
- sensitive, touchy
- delicate (topic, situation)
- sensor (noun)
Usage
Hassas describes a person who is easily moved or offended: "hassas barcha" (very sensitive), "hassas 3al le5er" (hypersensitive). It is also used for a delicate subject, as in English ("mawdhou3 hassas"), and for sensitive skin or teeth. The feminine is hassasa. The word is often complimentary: "wled ness w hassas" describes someone well brought up and attentive to others. As a noun it can mean a sensor, but in that sense Tunisians often say "capteur" in French.
Example
ما تحكيلوش هكّا، راهو حسّاس برشا
ma t7kilouch hakka, raho 7assas barcha
“Don't talk to him like that, he's very sensitive.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “7assas” but also “hassas”, “7asas”, “hasas” and “7asses”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 7 is ha (ح), a breathy h from the throat.
Type “7assas” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “sensitive, touchy”; “delicate (topic, skin)”: 7essas in Moroccan.