khiba خيبة
Tunisian Derja · noun
“khiba” (خيبة) is a noun in Tunisian Derja meaning disappointment, disillusion.
Meanings
- disappointment, disillusion
- failure, fiasco
- disgrace, pathetic thing
Usage
Khiba means disappointment or failure, often with a hint of resentment. The word is very common in speech and on social media. People say khiba kbira for "big disappointment". The exclamations ya khiba! and ya khibtou! express dismay at something botched or pathetic; they can be aimed at a person, in which case they are mocking, even hurtful. The word also appears in the standard expression khibat amal, "disillusion". It belongs to the same family as the adjective khayeb, "ugly, bad".
Example
الماتش هذا كان خيبة.
el match hedha kan khiba.
“This match was a real disappointment.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khiba” but also “5iba”, “khaiba” and “khyba”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Digits stand in for Arabic letters that have no Latin equivalent: 5 is kha (خ), like the ch in Scottish loch.