ملعون (Mal'oun)
What does ملعون (Mal'oun) mean? ملعون (Mal'oun) is a Arabic moderate that translates to “cursed / damned / accursed” in English.
Literal Translation
cursed / damned
Meaning & Usage
"cursed / damned / accursed"
Someone upon whom la'na (divine curse) has been placed. The Quran uses this word for Satan (Iblis al-mal'oun) and for peoples God destroyed. Calling someone mal'oun invokes the same curse that God placed on the devil — you are rejected by God, expelled from divine mercy, destined for hellfire.
Examples in the Wild
يا ملعون، إيش سويت! (Ya mal'oun, eish sawweit! - You cursed one, what have you done!) — Gulf Arabic, reaction to a mess or mistake.
When to Use It
Context
- Casual conversations with friends
- Informal settings where profanity is accepted
- Direct confrontation (use with caution)
Avoid
- Professional or formal settings
- Around religious or conservative communities
- Job interviews, meetings, or customer-facing situations
Cultural Context
The word has a special weight in Arabic that 'damned' or 'cursed' don't fully carry in English, because the curse is specifically divine, specifically Quranic, specifically eternal. When a parent calls a child 'ya mal'oun' in a moment of rage, they're technically invoking God's eternal damnation — an act that Islamic scholars say the parent should seek forgiveness for. In everyday use it's softened to approximately 'damn you,' but the theological infrastructure remains. It's the Arabic equivalent of casually using a nuclear weapon's name as a firecracker.
More in Arabic 🇸🇦
View all →شرموطة (Sharmouta)
“bitch / whore / slut”
A highly offensive term for a woman, implying she is a prostitute or extremely promiscuous.
زبي (Zubbi)
“my dick / fuck off / I don't care”
The Arabic word for penis in its possessive form — 'my dick.' Functions identically to 'dick' in English: anatomical term, exclamation of frustration, and dismissal all in one. 'Zubbi feek' (my dick in you) is the standard Levantine escalation. On its own, 'zubbi!' is what you shout when you stub your toe or your team concedes a goal.
كس أمك (Kus ummak)
“motherfucker / fuck you”
Considered one of the most offensive Arabic swear words. It directly attacks a person's mother, which is the ultimate violation of family honor.
كلب ابن كلب (Kalb ibn kalb)
“son of a bitch squared / absolute scum”
Doubling down on the dog insult — you're not just a dog, your father was also a dog. It's the Arabic technique of compounding insults for emphasis: if kalb is bad and ibn el kalb (already in seed) is worse, kalb ibn kalb is the full lineage attack. Your entire family tree is canine. No human was involved at any point.
منيّك (Mnayyak)
“fucker / dickhead / asshole”
From the root 'n-y-k' (to fuck), 'mnayyak' is the active participle — 'one who fucks' — but used as a general-purpose insult meaning 'asshole' or 'fucker.' Despite its sexual etymology, it's used so broadly in Levantine Arabic that it's become almost a generic intensifier. 'El mnayyak dah' (this fucker) can refer to a broken pipe, a bad boss, or a traffic jam.
تلحس طيزي (Telhas teeze)
“kiss my ass”
A vulgar phrase of strong dismissal and disrespect.
عرص (Ars)
“pimp / scumbag / bastard”
An insult implying a man is a pimp, or worse, someone who pimps out his own female relatives (a cuckold with no honor).
ابن المتناكة (Ibn el metnaaka)
“son of a whore / motherfucker”
Your mother has been fucked — not by your father through marriage, but indiscriminately. 'Metnaaka' is the feminine passive participle of 'naak' (to fuck), so it literally means 'a woman who has been fucked.' The insult says your mother's defining characteristic is having been sexually used.