Learn Arabic › B2 › خَذَل
خَذَل
to let down, to forsake (someone who needs help or support) /ˈxa.ða.la/
verbB2#3861 most common
Also: to abandon, to betray by withholding support, to desert
Example sentences
خَذَلَني صَدِيقِي.
My friend let me down.
لَنْ أَخْذُلَكَ أَبَدًا.
I will never let you down.
خَذَلَ الفَرِيقُ جَمَاهِيرَهُ بِخَسَارَتِهِ فِي المُبَارَاةِ النِّهَائِيَّةِ.
The team let down its fans by losing the final match.
لا تَخْذُلْ مَنْ يَثِقُ بِكَ وَقْتَ الشِّدَّةِ.
Do not forsake those who trust you in times of hardship.
شَعَرَ الجُنُودُ بِأَنَّ قَادَتَهُمْ خَذَلُوهُمْ حِينَ انْسَحَبُوا دُونَ سَابِقِ إِنْذَارٍ.
The soldiers felt their commanders had forsaken them when they withdrew without warning.
لَطَالَمَا خَذَلَتِ الأَنْظِمَةُ شُعُوبَهَا حِينَ تُنَادِي بِالإِصْلَاحِ ثُمَّ تَتَنَكَّرُ لِوُعُودِهَا.
Regimes have long let down their peoples when they call for reform and then renege on their promises.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَخْذُلُ | خَذَلْتُ | سَأَخْذُلُ |
| 2sg | تَخْذُلُ | خَذَلْتَ | سَتَخْذُلُ |
| 3sg | يَخْذُلُ | خَذَلَ | سَيَخْذُلُ |
| 1pl | نَخْذُلُ | خَذَلْنَا | سَنَخْذُلُ |
| 2pl | تَخْذُلُونَ | خَذَلْتُمْ | سَتَخْذُلُونَ |
| 3pl | يَخْذُلُونَ | خَذَلُوا | سَيَخْذُلُونَ |
Word family
خِذْلَانdesertion, betrayal, the act of forsaking
خَاذِلone who forsakes or betrays (active participle)
مَخْذُولforsaken, let down (passive participle)
تَخَاذَلَto abandon one another, to fail as a group
خَذُولone who habitually forsakes others
Etymology
Khadhala comes from the triliteral root kh-dh-l, native to Arabic and attested since pre-Islamic poetry and the Quran, where it describes an ally who fails to back a comrade in battle. The core sense is not mere absence but a withdrawal of support at the precise moment it is needed. Classical lexicographers built the whole word family, the deserter, the deserted, and mutual desertion, on this same root. No verified cognates outside Arabic are established here.
Learn Arabic the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free