مَلْبا
malbāmasculine
The English word garbage can be translated into Urdu using مَلْبا (malbā). Wiktionary also lists حَشْو (haśv) and کَچْرَہ (kacra).
Meaning: waste material (noun)
Ways to say it
| Urdu | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| مَلْبا | malbā | masculine |
| حَشْو | haśv | |
| کَچْرَہ | kacra | masculine |
| کُوڑا | kūṛā | masculine |
| آلائِش | ālāiś | feminine |
| فُضْلَہ | fuzla | masculine |
These terms all refer to waste material, but they are used in different contexts. For example, you can use the phrase kachre ka dabba to mean a dustbin.
Which one should you use?
While مَلْبا is a more formal or technical term for waste or debris, often used in official or academic contexts, کَچْرَہ is the most common everyday word for garbage or trash used in spoken Urdu. کُوڑا specifically refers to household or street refuse/garbage and is very common in daily conversation. The word حَشْو and the feminine form آلائِش also exist, while فُضْلَہ is another masculine option.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word کَچْرَہ is a masculine noun and requires masculine adjectives and verbs.
How do you pronounce it?
malbā
Did you know?
- In many South Asian households, the word for 'garbage' is often used as a hyperbolic insult. Calling someone's work or ideas کَچْرَہ is a common way to express extreme dissatisfaction.
- While مَلْبا refers to debris, it is the specific term used in Urdu news reports to describe the ruins of buildings after an earthquake or explosion.
- The word حَشْو is primarily used in literary criticism to describe 'filler' or unnecessary words in a poem that act as linguistic garbage.
Example sentences for Urdu are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “garbage” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
