Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| رَائِع | rāʔiʕ |
| عَظِيم | ʕaẓīm |
In Arabic, the choice of word for 'great' depends on whether you are describing something beautiful or something important. رَائِع is used to describe things that are wonderful, magnificent or aesthetically pleasing, like a beautiful view or a performance. عَظِيم is used for things that are great in terms of scale, status or importance, such as an achievement or a leader.
Which one should you use?
رَائِع carries the nuance of being wonderful or magnificent, whereas عَظِيم carries the nuance of being grand, immense or great in stature.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Levantine Arabic, the word منيح (Mnīħ) is commonly used to mean 'good' or 'great'. In Moroccan Arabic, if you want to express the idea of 'a lot' or 'very much', you should use بزاف (bzeff).
How does it change in a sentence?
Both forms change based on the gender and number of the noun they describe. The feminine form of رَائِع is رَائِعَة, and the masculine plural form is رَائِعُونَ. For the other term, the feminine form is عَظِيمَة.
How do you pronounce it?
رَائِع is pronounced rāʔiʕ.
Did you know?
- While عَظِيم means 'great', its root is shared with the word for 'bone' عظم. In ancient Arabic thought, the bone was the strongest and most substantial part of the body, linking physical hardness to greatness of status.
- The word رَائِع originally described something so beautiful or shocking that it caused one to lose their senses or faint. Today, it has evolved from meaning 'stunning' in a literal sense to simply meaning 'great' or 'wonderful'.
- In some Gulf dialects, people might use the word مَاشِي (māšī), which literally means 'walking', to mean 'great' or 'okay' in a conversational sense.
Examples in context
- هذا عَرْضٌ رَائِعٌ.hādha ‘arḍun rā’i‘un.This is a great show.
- كِتَابٌ رَائِعٌ جِدًّا.kitābun rā’i‘un jiddan.A very great book.
- لَدَيْكَ فِكْرَةٌ رَائِعَةٌ.ladayka fikratun rā’i‘atun.You have a great idea.
Example conversation
Ziad and Layla are discussing a movie they just watched.
- زياد Ziadهَلْ أَعْجَبَكِ الْفِيلْمُ؟hal a‘jabaki al-fīlmu?Did you like the movie?
- ليلى Laylaنَعَمْ، كَانَ رَائِعًا!na‘am, kāna rā’i‘an!Yes, it was great!
- زياد Ziadأَنَا أَيْضًا أَرَاهُ رَائِعًا.anā ayḍan arāhu rā’i‘an.I also think it is great.
- ليلى Laylaالْقِصَّةُ كَانَتْ رَائِعَةً.al-qiṣṣatu kānat rā’i‘atan.The story was great.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “great” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
