hbel هبل

Tunisian Derja · verb

“hbel” (هبل) is a verb in Tunisian Derja meaning to go mad, lose one's mind.

Meanings

1. to go mad, lose one's mind
2. to be overwhelmed, lose it
3. madness

Usage

Hbel means "to go mad", literally or figuratively, under the shock of an event, bad news or strong emotion. The conjugation is regular: hbelt "I went mad", yehbel "he goes mad". The participle mahboul means "mad". The derived feminine adjective thabbel is said of something "amazing, stunning": tbabel "she is gorgeous". The register is colloquial but not vulgar. The same word also means madness itself: hedha hbel "this is madness".

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “hbel” but also “hbal”, “hbil” and “hbelt”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “hbel” on the Arabic keyboard

In Algerian Darja

Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “madness, insanity”; “nonsense, something crazy”: hbal in Algerian.