How to say "broke, penniless (colloquial Arabic and Israeli slang)" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaningbroke, penniless (colloquial Arabic and Israeli slang)
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
طَفْرَان
ṭafrānטפראן
طفران
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
תפרן
tafranتَافْرَان
How the two words are related
Loanword
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
ط-ف-رA colloquial adjective on the CaCCān pattern the dialects love for states (zaʿlān 'upset', ʿaṭshān 'thirsty'). Hebrew swallowed it whole for 'flat broke' — and respelled the emphatic ط as ת, so תפרן no longer looks Arabic at all.
Learn it
In a phrase
أَنَا طَفْرَان هٰذَا الشَّهْر
anā ṭafrān hādhā sh-shahrאנא טפראן האד'א א-שהרI am broke this month
Feminine
طَفْرَانَة
ṭafrānaטפראנהMore in Arabic You Already Speak
- bad luck, ill omen (Arabic) → rotten luck, a jinx (Israeli slang)naḥsنَحْسנאחס
- market stall, spread-out display (Arabic → Israeli Hebrew: shuk stall)basṭaبَسْطَةבסטה
- original, genuine (Arabic) → authentic, the real deal (Israeli slang)aṣlīأَصْلِيאסלי
- one (Arabic wāḥid) → 'one heck of a...' (Israeli slang intensifier)wāḥidوَاحِدוואחד
- to finish, be free of (Arabic) → enough!, done! (Israeli slang)khalaṣخَلَصחלס
- my heart (Arabic term of endearment) → sweetheart (Israeli slang)qalbīقَلْبِيקלבי
All Arabic You Already Speak words Explore all root families