Arabic
10 Arabic swear words you'll actually hear
A traveller's shortlist of Arabic expletives, insults and exclamations — what they mean, and how strong they are.
Every language swears differently. This guide collects 10 Arabic expressions you're genuinely likely to hear — from mild exclamations to properly strong stuff — and explains what each one actually means, not just its dictionary translation.
Burn Ratings are an approximate, cross-language heuristic. Context, region, tone and who's speaking all change how a word lands. Treat these as a guide, not gospel.
- 1يا جبان 2/5 · Coarse
ya jaban
Literally “you coward”. Direct accusation of cowardice. Not inherently obscene.
Full entry → - 2يا حمار 2/5 · Coarse
ya himar
Literally “you donkey”. Insult calling someone stupid. Not profanity when merely referring to an animal without address.
Full entry → - 3يا زفت 2/5 · Coarse
ya zift
Literally “you tar”. Dismissive insult for an annoying or useless person. Especially recognizable in Egyptian colloquial speech.
Full entry → - 4أحا 3/5 · Vulgar
aha
Vulgar Egyptian exclamation of shock, disbelief or protest. Strongly context-dependent; not pan-Arabic in force.
Full entry → - 5بيضان 3/5 · Vulgar
bidan
Literally “testicles”. Vulgar Egyptian word used for annoying or tedious things. Not a general standard-Arabic adjective.
Full entry → - 6خرا 3/5 · Vulgar
khara
Literally “shit”. Vulgar bodily word and insult component. Dialectal spelling and pronunciation vary.
Full entry → - 7طيز 3/5 · Vulgar
tiz
Literally “buttocks”. Vulgar term for the backside in several dialects. Not a uniform pan-Arab register.
Full entry → - 8يا ابن الحرام 3/5 · Vulgar
ya ibn al-haram
Literally “son of the forbidden”. Insult comparable to bastard. Abusive parentage expression.
Full entry → - 9زب 4/5 · Strong
zibb
Literally “dick”. Vulgar genital word. Common across several dialects with vowel variation.
Full entry → - 10كل خرا 4/5 · Strong
kul khara
Literally “eat shit”. Strong abusive dismissal. Especially Levantine form; other dialects use different imperatives.
Full entry →