How to say "beautiful" in Arabic

New word

Meaningbeautiful

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

جَمِيل

jamīlג'מיל

جميل

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

יפה

yafeيَافِي

How the two words are related

New word

No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.

Arabic root

ج-م-ل

How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.

Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria

حِلُو

ḥiluחלו

Spoken Levantine usually says ḥilu — literally 'sweet' — for pretty or nice.

Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta

جَمِيل

gamīlגמיל

With Cairo's hard g — and ḥilw, 'sweet', is just as common for pretty.

Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes

زْوِين

zwīnזוין

A different word: zwīn is the Darija 'beautiful, nice, good'.

بِنْت جَمِيلَة

bint jamīlaבנת ג'מילה

a beautiful girl

جَمِيلَة

jamīlaג'מילה