سُوءٌ bad in Arabic
سُوءٌ is how you say “bad” in Arabic.
Root س و أ s-w-ʾ. noun (substantive / verbal noun of سَآءَ "to be evil" and سَآءَهُ "to harm/grieve him"). sūʾ.
Arabic
English
The audio uses AI voices.
Meaning of bad in Arabic
- evil, harm, injury done to someone Used as the noun for what one causes another to suffer, from سَآءَهُ 'he did evil to him, displeased, grieved, or vexed him' (opposite of سَرَّهُ, 'he pleased him').
- badness, evilness, foulness (as a quality) Tied to the intransitive sense of سَآءَ, 'it was, or became, evil, bad, abominable, foul, unseemly, or ugly.'
Example sentence
والابتلاء بقرناء السوء الَّذين يفسدون الْقلب ويضيعون الْوَقْت
And the trial of bad companions who corrupt the heart and waste time.
السُّوءِ bad
al- = 'the'; su means 'evil, bad'; joined to the previous word as an 'of…' phrase ('companions of evil' = bad companions).
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
Sūʾ and its kin describe both a quality (something being bad or unseemly) and an action (harming, grieving, or displeasing someone). The Qur'anic phrase سَآءَ سَبِيلًا, "evil is it as a way," shows the root condemning a course of action, while everyday phrases like سُؤْتُ بِهِ ظَنًّا, "I held an evil opinion of him," show it applied to judgment and feeling.
Words from the same root
- سَآءَ to be/become evil, bad, foul, ugly; also (transitively) to harm, grieve, or vex someone
- أَسَآءَ to do evil, act badly, or do something poorly — opposite of أَحْسَنَ, 'to do good'
- سوّأ to tell someone 'you did wrong'; to discommend a deed, or to corrupt/mar something
- استآء to experience evil, displeasure, grief, or anxiety
- مَسَآءَةٌ harm, injury, or grief caused to someone (a noun form of سَآءَهُ)
- سَوْءٌ evil, badness — the basic verbal noun of سَآءَ
More example sentences
والحور الْعين يعجبن من سوء اختيارك عَلَيْهِنَّ
And the wide-eyed maidens wonder at your poor choice over them.
سُوءِ poor
'Badness / poorness', first term of an 'of' pairing — 'the badness of your choice' — genitive after 'at'. It owns the noun that follows.
ولا ترجع إلى أرضك فإنها أرض سوءٍ،
And do not return to your land, for it is a land of evil.
سُوءٍ of evil
This completes 'a land of evil', in the genitive as owner. Arabic says 'an evil land' as 'a land of evil', an 'of' pairing rather than an adjective. So his homeland is branded a place of corruption.
Common questions
- How do you say "bad" in Arabic?
- سُوءٌ (sūʾ) — used as a noun for evil, harm, or badness.
- What is the root of سُوءٌ and what other words share it?
- The root is س و أ (s-w-ʾ), shared with سَآءَ ('to be/become evil'), أَسَآءَ ('to do evil, act badly'), and مَسَآءَةٌ ('harm, injury caused').
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).