Learn ArabicB2 › غالِيّ

غالِيّ

expensive /ˈɣaː.liː/

adjectiveB2#3573 most common

Also: dear, precious, costly

Example sentences

هذا الكتاب غالي.
This book is expensive.
السيارة غالية جدًا.
The car is very expensive.
أحبك يا حبيبي الغالي.
I love you, my dear one.
اشتريت ساعة غالية الثمن من السوق.
I bought a high-priced watch from the market.
أصبحت المنازل في هذه المدينة غالية جدًا بسبب التضخم.
Houses in this city have become very expensive because of inflation.
رغم أنه غالٍ، إلا أن الناس ما زالوا يشترونه بسبب جودته العالية.
Even though it is expensive, people still buy it because of its high quality.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeغالٍغالون
Genitiveغالٍغالين
Accusativeغاليًاغالين
Vocativeيا غالييا غالين

Word family

غلاto become expensive
أغلىmore/most expensive, dearest
غلاءhigh cost, expensiveness
غاليةexpensive, dear (feminine)
يُغليto make expensive, to overprice

Etymology

The word comes from the Arabic root غ-ل-و (gh-l-w), tied to the verb غلا, meaning to rise in price or become dear. غالي is the active-participle form of that verb, used as an ordinary adjective for something costly or cherished. Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so it has no PIE root.

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

عِنْدَئِذٍthen / at that timeمِنْحَةgrantمُسِنّelderly personأَلِيفcompanionداعِرlewd, licentiousشُجاعbraveدَفَنto buryعَرِيفknowledgeable, expert