English → Arabic
awful in Arabic
- Pronunciation
- sayyiʾ
- Arabizi
sayyi2- Type
- adjective · masculine
- Root
- س ي ئ
How to use it
"Awful" means very bad or unpleasant. In Arabic the common adjective is "سيئ" (masc.) and can be intensified with "جداً". It is used for food, weather, experiences, etc.
Example sentences
-
الطعامُ سَيِّئٌ جِدًّا.
aṭ-ṭaʿāmu sayyiʾun jiddan.
The food is awful.
-
كانَتْ الفِيلمُ سَيِّئًا وَلا أُوصِي بِهِ.
kānat al-film sayyiʾan wa-lā uwsī bihi.
The movie was awful and I don’t recommend it.
-
تجربةُ السفرِ سَيِّئَةٌ بسببِ الطقسِ.
tajribat as-safar sayyiʾatun bisabab aṭ-ṭaqs.
The travel experience was awful because of the weather.
Examples from real texts
Sentences taken from published bilingual texts (subtitles, documents). They show the word in context and are not reviewed one by one.
It's awful.
كانت سيئة.
It was awful.
وقد كان هذا سيئاً للغاية
Unto an Awful Day,
« ليوم عظيم » أي فيه وهو يوم القيامة.
Sami heard an awful blast.
سمع سامي انفجارا رهيبا.
American airlines are pretty awful.
ذلك أن شركات الطيران الأميركية فظيعة للغاية.
It's just awful, those poor people.
وانه امرٌ مريع لهؤلاء الفقراء
And used to persist in the awful sin.
« وكانوا يصرون على الحنث » الذنب « العظيم » أي الشرك.
We have an awful, awful reality right now.
لدينا واقع مرعب، واقع مرعب لغاية الآن.
and they persisted obstinately in awful sin,
« وكانوا يصرون على الحنث » الذنب « العظيم » أي الشرك.
and the mountains move with an awful motion:
« وتسير الجبال سيرا » تصير هباء منثورا وذلك في يوم القيامة.
And the mountains move away with ( awful ) movement,
« وتسير الجبال سيرا » تصير هباء منثورا وذلك في يوم القيامة.
And it's one of the most awful things -- heartwarming, but awful.
وهو من أكثر الأشياء فظاعة -- مثلج للصدر، لكنه فظيع.
Questions and answers
Is there a stronger word than "awful"?
Yes, "فظيع" (faziʿ) or "مروع" (marūʿ) convey a stronger sense of horror.
Can "awful" be used positively?
In informal English it can mean "awesome", but Arabic "سيئ" never has a positive meaning.
Related words and expressions
Updated