بی سواد (Bi sawad)
What does بی سواد (Bi sawad) mean? بی سواد (Bi sawad) is a Dari mild that translates to “illiterate / ignorant / uneducated” in English.
Literal Translation
without literacy / uneducated
Meaning & Usage
01
"illiterate / ignorant / uneducated"
In a country where the adult literacy rate hovers around 43%, calling someone 'bi sawad' is both an insult and a statement of fact for much of the population. But as an insult, it means more than 'can't read' — it means 'too ignorant to understand what's happening, too unsophisticated to participate in real conversation.'
Examples in the Wild
با آدم بی سواد بحث نکن، وقتت ضایع میشه. (Ba adam-e bi sawad bahs nakun, waqtet zaya mesha. - Don't argue with an illiterate person, you'll waste your time.) — Intellectual snobbery.