tefeh تافه

Tunisian Derja · adjective

“tefeh” (تافه) is an adjective in Tunisian Derja meaning futile, trivial.

Meanings

1. futile, trivial
2. shallow, worthless (person)

Usage

Tefeh describes something with no interest or value: a show, an argument, a topic. Applied to a person, it becomes clearly contemptuous and means "shallow" or "pathetic". It is often heard in criticism of television or social media: "barnemej tefeh", a worthless show. The feminine is tefha and the plural is tefhin. The expression "el 7ajet ettefha" means trivialities. The word comes from literary Arabic but is well integrated into everyday speech. It remains a harsh judgment, to be used with caution about someone.

Example

How to write it in Latin letters

In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “tefeh” but also “tafeh”, “tefih” and “tafih”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.

Type “tefeh” on the Arabic keyboard