jehel جاهل
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“jehel” (جاهل) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning ignorant, uneducated.
Meanings
- ignorant, uneducated
- thoughtless, immature
Usage
Jehel means "ignorant": someone who does not know or lacks education. It is used as an adjective or a noun. The feminine is jehla, the plural jehlin or jhel. As a form of address ("ya jehel!"), the word becomes a contemptuous reproach: it calls the other person uneducated or narrow-minded. It is common in online arguments. The word can also describe a child or young person who acts without thinking: "mazel jehel", "he is still immature". The corresponding noun is jahl, "ignorance".
Example
ما تعطيهش بالك، راهو جاهل.
ma ta3tihech balek, raho jehel.
“Don't pay attention to him, he's ignorant.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jehel” but also “jehil”, “jahel”, “jehell” and “jehl”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “jehel” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “wild, aggressive (animal)”; “unruly, insolent (person)”: jahel in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “ignorant, uneducated”; “immature, thoughtless”: jahel in Algerian.