Quranic root
غضب
gh · ḍ · b
The root centers on intensity and force; in its dominant emotional branch, غضب denotes intensified displeasure directed toward resistance or retaliation.
The lexical tradition connects the sense of firmness or hardness with the intensification of displeasure into anger. In divine usage, this develops into punitive disapproval or retribution, while related derivatives extend to forceful, severe, and hard qualities.
- Maqāyīs · row 3425
- Mufradāt · row 1055
- Lane · entry 29400
- Lane · entry 29401
- 5
- Quran-attested forms
- 7
- Quran senses
- 24
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
غَضِبَ
ghaḍiba
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 6 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To be or become angry with someone.
The ordinary verb takes the person or object of anger in constructions such as غَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ. Quranic usage includes both human and divine subjects; the divine usage is specified separately below.
- Lane · entry 29396
Selected Quran examples
Quran 42:37word 8
“they are angry”
Of God, to direct punitive wrath against someone—to express disapproval of disobedience with punishment as its consequence.
This is the Quranic theological use of the verb when God is the subject; it does not describe a human physiological emotion.
- Mufradāt · row 1055
Selected Quran examples
Quran 5:60word 13
“and He became angry”
غَضَب
ghaḍab
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 14 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Anger or wrath as an intense state of displeasure, conventionally associated with a drive toward retaliation.
In ordinary human usage, the word denotes an emotional state. Classical definitions distinguish anger from grief and describe both commendable anger for truth and blameworthy anger in a wrongful cause.
- Lane · entry 29401
- Mufradāt · row 1055
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:154word 5
“the anger”
Divine punitive wrath: disapproval of disobedience expressed as retribution.
When attributed to God, the Quranic usage is interpreted as punitive consequence rather than a human-like physiological state.
- Lane · entry 29401
- Mufradāt · row 1055
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:90word 22
“wrath”
غَضْبَان
ghaḍbān
- Part of speech
- Adjective
- Quran occurrences
- 2 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Angry or wrathful.
An epithet for an angry person; some Classical descriptions add the nuance of being quick or readily angered. The Quranic occurrences describe Moses in this state.
- Lane · entry 29407
Selected Quran examples
Quran 7:150word 6
“angry”
مَغْضُوبٌ عَلَيْهِ
maghḍūbun ʿalayhi
- Part of speech
- Passive participle
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Subjected to anger; one who has incurred divine punitive wrath.
The Quranic expression الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ is a passive-participial construction. Its traditional interpretation identifies the referent as the Jews, but that identification is an interpretation of the referent rather than the lexical meaning of the participle itself.
- Lane · entry 29414
- Mufradāt · row 1055
Selected Quran examples
Quran 1:7word 6
“those who earned (Your) wrath”
مُغَاضِب
mughāḍib
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Departing in anger or enmity, breaking off or quitting one's people.
In the Quranic construction ذهب مُغَاضِبًا, the active participle describes departure accompanied by estrangement or anger, rather than merely the internal state of being angry.
- Lane · entry 29397
Selected Quran examples
Quran 21:87word 5
“(while) angry”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 1:7ٱلْمَغْضُوبِthose who earned (Your) wrath
- 2:61بِغَضَبٍۢwrath
- 2:90بِغَضَبٍwrath
- 2:90غَضَبٍۢ ۚwrath
- 3:112بِغَضَبٍۢwrath
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 24 Classical meanings
غَضِبَ
In Classical constructions, غَضِبَ لَهُ means to be angry on behalf of a living person, while غَضِبَ بِهِ is used when that person is dead; غَضِبَ فِي اللهِ means to be angry for God's sake, and غَضِبَ مِنْ لَا شَيْءٍ means to become angry without cause.
These are constructional and contextual distinctions of the Form I verb, not separate Quranic meanings.
- Lane · entry 29396
غَضِبَ
Of a mare, to champ or snap at the bit.
A figurative or specialized animal usage.
- Lane · entry 29396
غُضِبَ
To be afflicted with the disease called غُضَاب.
A passive-form medical usage; the same disease is also reported of the eye.
- Lane · entry 29396
غَاضَبَ
To make one another angry; to engage in reciprocal anger.
Form III reciprocal usage, distinct from the Quranic active-participial construction of departure in anger.
- Lane · entry 29397
أَغْضَبَ
To anger someone or make someone angry.
Causative Form IV usage.
- Lane · entry 29398
تَغَضَّبَ
To become angry, or to become angry progressively after having been somewhat angry already.
Form V usage with an inchoative or intensifying nuance.
- Lane · entry 29399
تَغَضَّبَ
Of a cooking pot, to boil fiercely over its contents.
A figurative or tropical Form V usage.
- Lane · entry 29399
غَضْبٌ
Intensely or densely red; thick or dense in quality.
Used especially in descriptions of a deep, intense red.
- Lane · entry 29400
غَضْبٌ
A hard rock fixed in a mountain and distinct from it; also a hard, rounded rock.
A concrete geological noun.
- Lane · entry 29400
غَضْبٌ
A lion; also a bull.
Separate animal-noun usages of the same headword.
- Lane · entry 29400
غَضْبَةٌ
An eminence or raised protuberance.
A physical elevation, including an eminence of the kind called أَكَمَة.
- Lane · entry 29403
غَضْبَةٌ
A fleshly protuberance above or beneath the eye, including a flatulent swelling of the eyelid.
A specialized anatomical usage.
- Lane · entry 29403
غَضْبَةٌ
A shield-like object made from camel hide, with one part folded over another; also a camel-hide fighting garment.
Specialized equipment and clothing made from hide.
- Lane · entry 29403
غَضْبَةٌ
The skin or hide of an aged mountain goat, a fish, the head, or the part between a bull's horns.
A group of specialized hide terms reported under the same headword.
- Lane · entry 29403
غَضْبَةٌ
A patch or area of smallpox on the skin.
A medical usage describing skin covered in a smallpox patch.
- Lane · entry 29403
القُوَّةُ الغَضَبِيَّةُ
The irascible faculty or anger-producing power.
A technical philosophical or psychological expression.
- Lane · entry 29406
غِضَابٌ
Motes or specks in the eye or eyes.
An ocular medical usage; the variant غُضَابٌ is also reported.
- Lane · entry 29410
غِضَابٌ
A disease or skin eruption, reported variously as distinct from or including smallpox.
The sources preserve variation about whether the term denotes an eruption generally or smallpox specifically.
- Lane · entry 29410
غَضُوبٌ
Stern or austere in look or countenance.
Reported especially of a woman or a she-camel, as explicitly specified in the lexical evidence.
- Lane · entry 29411
غَضُوبٌ
A company or group of women.
A collective-noun usage distinct from the adjective meaning stern.
- Lane · entry 29411
غَضُوبٌ
A malignant serpent.
A specialized animal noun.
- Lane · entry 29411
غُضَابِيٌّ
A man perturbed or difficult in social intercourse and comportment.
A specialized adjective describing social manner and conduct.
- Lane · entry 29412
الأَغْضَبُ
An anatomical region between the penis and an adjacent structure.
A specialized anatomical term whose second anatomical reference is not further identified in the supplied evidence.
- Lane · entry 29413
مَغْضُوبٌ
Afflicted with the disease called غِضَاب, especially smallpox.
A specialized medical use of the passive participle, separate from مَغْضُوبٌ عَلَيْهِ meaning one subjected to anger.
- Lane · entry 29414
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The public headword مُغَاضِب is presented as a Form III active participle because the Quranic occurrence is participial, while the associated Classical verb is غَاضَبَ.
The traditional identification of الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ with the Jews is preserved as a referential interpretation, not as a restriction in the lexical definition.