malhouf ملهوف
Tunisian Derja · adjective
“malhouf” (ملهوف) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning eager, greedy to get.
Meanings
- eager, greedy to get
- impatient, craving something
Usage
Malhouf describes someone who throws themselves at something with greed or impatience: food, money, pleasures, "life". The typical construction is malhouf 3la…, as in malhouf 3al flous or malhouf 3al mekla. The word is often pejorative, since it suggests a lack of restraint, but it can also describe a simple very strong desire. The feminine is malhoufa and the plural malhoufin. It does not mean "afflicted", a sense the word can have in classical Arabic. In Tunisian, the central idea is eagerness.
Example
علاش ملهوف هكا عالماكلة؟ ماهيش باش تهرب!
3lech malhouf hakka 3al mekla? mehich bech tohrob!
“Why are you pouncing on the food like that? It's not going to run away!”
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “malhouf” but also “malhoof” and “malhof”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.