This lesson will teach you to describe the colors and appearance of people and things in Arabic. Learn to express whether something is big or small, red or green, beautiful of ugly.

This lesson is part of the chapter “Learning Arabic“.

Basic Words & Phrases: Colors

Colors

EnglishArabicArabic
(Romanization)
Pronunciation
(Audio)
light / clearضوء
واضح
daw'
wadih [2]

darkظلامzalam
colorcolorلونlawn
coloredcoloredملونmolawan
whitewhiteأبيضabyad
blackblackأسودaswad
yellowyellowأصفرasfar
orangeorangeبرتقاليbortoqali
redredأحمرahmar
pinkpinkورديwardi
violetvioletبنفسجيbanafsaji
blueblueأزرقazraq
greengreenأخضرakhdar
brownbrownأسمر
بني
asmar
bonney

greygreyرماديramadi

Appearance & attributes

EnglishArabicArabic
(Romanization)
Pronunciation
(Audio)
newجديدjadid
oldقديمqadim
smallصغيرsaghir
large / bigواسع
كبير
wasi'
kabir [1]

youngصغير السن, صغيرة السنsaghir assen (m), sahgirat assen (f)
kind / pleasantلطيف
ممتع
latif
momti' [3]

unkind / unpleasantقاس
غير ممتع
kasin
ghayr momti' [4]

patientصبور, صبورةsabor (m) [5], saborah (f) [6]
tall (When talking about people)طويل, طويلةtawil (m), tawilah (f)
middle sized (When talking about people)متوسط الحجم, متوسطة الحجمmotawasit al hajm (m), motawasitat al hajm (f)
small (When talking about people)صغير, صغيرةsaghir (m), saghirah (f)
fatسمين, سمينةsamin (m), saminah (f) [10]
thin / slimنحيف, نحيفة
ضئيل, ضئيلة
nahif (m), nahifah (f)
da'eel (m), da'eelah (f)

nice / prettyلطيف, لطيفة
جميل, جميلة
latif (m), latifah (f)
jamil (m), jamilah (f)

beautifulجميل, جميلةjamil (m), jamilah (f)
uglyقبيح, قبيحةqabih (m), qabihah (f)
ill / sickمريض, مريضة
عليل, عليلة
marid (m), maridah (f)
'alil (m), alilah (f)

healthyصحي, صحية
سليم, سليمة
sihi (m), siheyah (f)
salim (m), salimah (f)

happy / cheerfulسعيد, سعيدة
مرح, مرحة
sa'id (m), sa'idah (f)
marih (m), marehah (f)

sadحزين, حزينةhazin (m), hazinah (f)
sportyرياضي, رياضيةriyadi (m), riyadeyah (f)
ambitionedطموح, طموحةtamoh (m), tamohah (f)
intelligentذكي, ذكيةdzaki (m), dzakeyah (f)
creativeمبدع, مبدعةmobde' (m), mobde'ah (f)
activeنشيط, نشيطةnasheet (m), nasheetah (f)
sentimentalوجداني, وجدانيةwejdani (m), wejdaneyah (f)
rationalعقلاني, عقلانيةaqlani (m), aqlaneyah (f)
emotionalعاطفي, عاطفيةatifi (m), atifeyah (f)
naturalطبيعي, طبيعيةtabi'i (m), tabi'eyah (f)
romanticرومانسي, رومانسيةromansi (m), romanseyah (f)
nice / amiableلطيف, لطيفة
ودود, ودودة
latif (m), latifah (f)
wadud (m), wadudah (f)

spontaneousعفوي, عفويةafawi (m), afaweyah (f)
energeticنشيط, نشيطةnasheet (m), nasheetah (f)
stressed (out)يعاني من الضغط الشديد, تعاني من الضغط الشديدyo'ani min a daght a'shadid (m), to'ani min a daght a'shadid (f)
relaxedمسترخي, مسترخيةmostarkhi (m), mostarkheyah (f)
frustratedمحبط, محبطةmohbat (m), mohbatah (f)
talentedموهوب, موهوبةmawhob (m), mawhobah (f)

Questions & phrases

EnglishArabicArabic
(Romanization)
Pronunciation
(Audio)
What does he look like?كيف يبدو؟kayfa yabdo?
What does she look like?كيف تبدو؟kayfa tabdo?
What is he like?كيف هو؟kayfa howa?
What is she like?كيف هي؟kayfa hiya?

Notes:

1 When talking about size we can say مقاس لارج, maqas (large). When talking about 'a big scale' we can say واسع, wasi'. When we use the word large as huge, we say ضخم, dakhm.2 As in 'day light' or 'the light in the room' etc. If we're talking about weight it would be خفيف, khafif.3 In the context of 'this trip was pleasant'. If we're talking about a person, it's going to be جميل, jamil or رائع, rae'e'.4 In the context of 'this trip was unpleasant'. If we're talking about a person, it's going to be بغيض, baghid.5 When the word patient is used as 'a patient in the hospital' we use the word مريض, marid.6 When fat is used in a context that refers to food or body fat etc., we use the word دهون, duhoon.

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