ghaddar غدار
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“ghaddar” (غدار) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning treacherous, perfidious.
Meanings
- treacherous, perfidious
- betraying trust
Usage
Ghaddar describes a person who betrays the trust placed in them, who turns against those who helped them. It is a serious reproach, common in songs, tales and arguments. It is used as an adjective ("rajel ghaddar") or as a noun ("ya ghaddar !"). The feminine is ghaddara and the plural ghaddarin. Fate or an illness can also be called ghaddar, meaning unpredictable and sly. "Ghaddar" is stronger than "khayen", which refers more to the betrayal of a commitment.
Example
ما تأمنوش، راهو غدّار
ma t2amnouch, rahou ghaddar
“Don't trust him, he's a traitor.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “ghaddar” but also “ghadar”, “8addar”, “ghder” and “ghadder”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 8 is light ha (ه) or ghayn (غ), depending on the writer.
Type “ghaddar” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “treacherous, disloyal”: ghaddar in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “treacherous, perfidious”; “disloyal, betraying trust”: ghaddar in Algerian.