Learn Arabic › B2 › شَنِيع
شَنِيع
atrocious /ʃaˈniːʕ/
adjectiveB2#3620 most common
Also: hideous, heinous, monstrous
Example sentences
هذا شيء شنيع.
This is a hideous thing.
ارتكب جريمة شنيعة.
He committed a heinous crime.
كانت رائحة القمامة شنيعة جدًا.
The smell of the garbage was truly awful.
وصف الشهود الحادث بأنه شنيع.
Witnesses described the incident as atrocious.
تعرض السجناء لمعاملة شنيعة انتهكت أبسط حقوق الإنسان.
The prisoners were subjected to atrocious treatment that violated the most basic human rights.
أدان مجلس الأمن، في بيان صدر أمس، الهجوم الشنيع الذي استهدف المدنيين العزّل وأسفر عن سقوط عشرات الضحايا.
The Security Council, in a statement issued yesterday, condemned the atrocious attack that targeted unarmed civilians and left dozens of victims.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | شَنِيعٌ | شَنِيعُونَ |
| Genitive | شَنِيعٍ | شَنِيعِينَ |
| Accusative | شَنِيعًا | شَنِيعِينَ |
| Vocative | يا شَنِيعُ | يا شَنِيعُونَ |
Word family
شَنَاعَةhideousness, atrocity
شَنَّعَto defame, vilify, revile
أَشْنَعmore/most hideous (comparative)
تَشْنِيعdefamation, vilification
Etymology
شَنِيع comes from the Arabic triliteral root ش-ن-ع (sh-n-ʿ), which carries the sense of ugliness, disgrace, and being notorious for wrongdoing. The pattern فَعِيل (faʿīl) here works as an intensive adjective, marking a quality that is extreme or striking. Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so it has no Proto-Indo-European root or Western cognates.
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