What does “kullish” mean in Iraqi Arabic?

حوار غيرة بين حبيبين باللهجة العراقية

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B2 Arabic listening practice · Levantine Arabic · Curated for upper-intermediate learners

💡 Did you know?
كلش (kullish)
Iraqi Arabic intensifier
'Very, super, totally', an Iraqi-distinctive way to crank an adjective up

كلش (kullish) is the Iraqi Arabic intensifier for “very, super, totally.” Among Arabic dialects, every region picks its own intensifier, and kullish is one of the most reliable Iraqi tells. Levantine speakers say كتير (kteer), Egyptians say قوي/أوي (awi), Gulf speakers say وايد (wāyed), and Iraqis reach for kullish. It works like English “super” before an adjective: kullish zēn (“super good”).

This clip is a jealous-couple argument in Iraqi Arabic. One speaker says “عرفت علي وحدة كلش هذا” (“I learned Ali knows some girl, super”) and accuses him of posting her photos. Kullish sets the emotional pitch of the whole exchange.

From To↗ on YouTube.Watch original

Vocabulary frequency

How common is the vocabulary in this B2 Arabic listening practice listening practice?

78.9%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common Arabic words
Based on this reel’s transcript, most of the vocabulary is high-frequency, everyday Arabic.

General Arabic frequency

61.8%
Top 1,000
78.9%
Top 2,000
98.7%
Top 5,000

Spoken Arabic frequency

93.2%
Top 1,000
100%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000

Words above this video’s level

Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s B2 level.

تصيح
2×
Rare / outside top 5,000
تطلعين
2×
Rare / outside top 5,000
كلش
2×
Rare / outside top 5,000
very
اتخبل
1×
Rare / outside top 5,000
اروح
1×
Rare / outside top 5,000
جدي جدا
1×
acting overly serious and strict

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.

★Where you’ll hear this
  • ▸In Iraqi family dramas on Al-Iraqiya and MBC Iraq
  • ▸In Iraqi diaspora podcasts and YouTube channels
  • ▸In Iraqi rap and trap music (Narcy, Yaseen Skeko)
  • ▸In Iraqi football fan broadcasts and post-match analysis
  • ▸In Iraqi WhatsApp voice notes between couples

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