Learn ArabicB1 › سَلْبِيّ

سَلْبِيّ

negative /salˈbijː/

adjectiveB1#2579 most common

Also: passive, pessimistic

Example sentences

هو شخص سلبي جدًا.
He is a very negative person.
كانت نتيجة الاختبار سلبية.
The test result was negative.
يجب أن نتجنب التفكير السلبي.
We should avoid negative thinking.
أظهر الفحص الطبي أن النتيجة سلبية.
The medical exam showed that the result was negative.
قد يكون للإعلام تأثير سلبي على تصورات الشباب.
Media can have a negative influence on how young people see things.
انتقد الكاتب الموقف السلبي الذي اتخذته الحكومة تجاه الأزمة الاقتصادية، معتبرًا أنه فاقم من تداعياتها.
The writer criticized the negative stance the government took toward the economic crisis, arguing that it worsened its fallout.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeسَلْبِيٌّسَلْبِيُّونَ
Genitiveسَلْبِيٍّسَلْبِيِّينَ
Accusativeسَلْبِيًّاسَلْبِيِّينَ
Vocativeيَا سَلْبِيُّيَا سَلْبِيُّونَ

Word family

سَلَبَto rob, deprive, take away
سَلْبnegation, deprivation, robbery
سَلْبِيَّةnegativity, passivity
سَالِبnegative, minus (in math)
مَسْلُوبdeprived, robbed of

Etymology

The word comes from the Arabic root س ل ب (s-l-b), tied to the verb سَلَبَ, meaning to strip away, take by force, or deprive. The verbal noun سَلْب means negation or deprivation. Adding the nisba suffix ـِيّ, which turns nouns into descriptive adjectives, produced سَلْبِيّ, literally 'of negation,' now used for 'negative' in general and technical senses.

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

More Arabic words

مُقاتِلfighterمُقَدَّمadvance (put forward, as in an advance payment)راقto please, to be pleasing/delightful (to someone)صُلْبsolidشَوَىto grill (meat, fish, or vegetables over fire)سَكَنdwelling; place of residenceتَوْأَمtwinدِيكrooster