How to say "ugly" in Arabic
New wordMeaningugly
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
قَبِيح
qabīḥקביח
قبيح
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
מכוער
mekho'arمِخُوءَار
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ق-ب-حLearn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
قَبِيح
abīḥאביחUrban Levantine turns qāf into a glottal stop: abīḥ.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
وِحِش
wiḥishוחשCairo's ugly (and bad) is wiḥish.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
خَايْب
khāybח'איבDarija's ugly (and bad) is khāyb.
In a phrase
مَنْظَر قَبِيح
manẓar qabīḥמנט'ר קביחan ugly sight
Plural
قِبَاح
qibāḥקבאחbroken plural CiCāC — like كبير→كبار
Feminine
قَبِيحَة
qabīḥaקביחה