Learn Arabic › B1 › مَعْتُوه
مَعْتُوه
insane; feeble-minded (idiot, crazy person) /maʕˈtuːh/
adjectiveB1#2572 most common
Also: moronic, deranged, simple-minded
Example sentences
هو مَعْتُوهٌ.
He is an idiot.
لا تكن معتوهًا وفكّر جيدًا قبل أن تتكلم.
Don't be a fool, think carefully before you speak.
يعامله زملاؤه وكأنه معتوه لأنه يصدق كل شيء يسمعه.
His colleagues treat him as if he were an imbecile because he believes everything he hears.
في الرواية، كان الملك يتظاهر بأنه معتوه ليتجنب الاغتيال.
In the novel, the king pretended to be insane to avoid assassination.
وصفته الصحافة بأنه معتوه بعدما أدلى بتصريحات غريبة أمام الكاميرات.
The press described him as deranged after he made strange statements in front of the cameras.
لطالما اتُّهم المصلحون عبر التاريخ بأنهم معتوهون قبل أن يثبت الزمن صواب أفكارهم.
Reformers have often been accused of being insane throughout history, before time proved their ideas right.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | مَعْتُوهٌ | مَعْتُوهُونَ |
| Genitive | مَعْتُوهٍ | مَعْتُوهِينَ |
| Accusative | مَعْتُوهًا | مَعْتُوهِينَ |
| Vocative | يَا مَعْتُوهُ | يَا مَعْتُوهُونَ |
Word family
عَتَه (ʿataha)to become feeble-minded or insane
عَتَاهَة (ʿatāha)insanity, imbecility
مَعْتُوهَة (maʿtūha)insane, feeble-minded (feminine)
عَتِيه (ʿatīh)senile, doting, insane
Etymology
The word comes from the Arabic root ʿ-t-h, which covers ideas of dotage, feeble-mindedness, and mental derangement. Meʿtūh is the passive participle, built on the maf'ūl pattern, so it literally means one who has been afflicted with that condition. Classical dictionaries already list it alongside terms for madness caused by old age or illness. It is Semitic in origin, not Indo-European, so it has no Proto-Indo-European ancestor.
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