How to say "harsh, cruel, hard-hearted" in Arabic
CognateMeaningharsh, cruel, hard-hearted
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
قَاسِي
qāsīקאסי
قاسي
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
קשה
kasheكَاشِي
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ق-س-وHebrew root
ק-ש-הSame root as Hebrew kashe (קשה), 'hard, harsh' — qāf and sīn match qof and shin exactly, and the final weak radical shows up as Hebrew ה where Arabic has a defective و/ي. Formal MSA spells the word قَاسٍ; everyday speech says qāsī.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
قَاسِي
ʾāsiאאסיCairo turns the qāf into a glottal stop: ʾāsi.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
قَاسح
qāseḥקאסחDarija qāseḥ means hard or tough, of things and of people.
In a phrase
أَب قَاسِي
ab qāsīאב קאסיa harsh father
Feminine
قَاسِيَة
qāsiyaקאסיה