khtir خطير
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“khtir” (خطير) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning dangerous.
Meanings
- dangerous
- serious, grave
- impressive, awesome (slang)
Usage
Khtir means "dangerous" for a road, an animal or a situation, and "serious" for an injury or an illness. The feminine is khtira. Among young people, it is also used informally as an admiring intensifier, like French "terrible": el match kan khtir "the match was awesome". Context and intonation make the difference. The phrase moch khtir means "it's not serious", "nothing serious". The word is common in all registers.
Example
الطريق هاذي خطيرة بالليل
ettrig hedhi khtira bel lil
“This road is dangerous at night.”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “khtir” but also “5tir”, “khatir” and “khtiir”. 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.
Type “khtir” on the Arabic keyboard
In Moroccan Darija
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Moroccan Darija, where it means “dangerous”; “serious, grave”: khatir in Moroccan.
In Algerian Darja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Algerian Darja, where it means “dangerous, serious”; “awesome, impressive (slang)”: khatir in Algerian.