dh3if ضعيف
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“dh3if” (ضعيف) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning weak, without strength.
Meanings
- weak, without strength
- thin, skinny
- fragile, vulnerable
Usage
Dh3if means "weak", physically or morally: niveau dh3if, "weak level". It also has a less obvious sense, "thin": wallet dh3ifa, "she has lost weight". It is the opposite of smin ("fat"). Context tells the two senses apart. The feminine is dh3ifa and the plural dh3af. In religious vocabulary, 7dith dh3if refers to a hadith with an unreliable chain of transmission. Used as a noun, ed-dh3if means "the weak one", someone with no defense.
Example
ولّى ضعيف برشا بعد المرض
walla dh3if barcha ba3d el mardh
“He became very thin after the illness.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “dh3if” but also “d3if”, “dha3if”, “da3if” and “dh3iif”. 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 “dh3if” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “weak, lacking strength”; “thin, skinny”: d3if in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “weak, without strength”; “thin, skinny”: dh3if in Algerian.