Quranic root
هزأ
h · z · ʾ
The root centers on mockery: treating a person, thing, message, or sign as an object of ridicule or derision.
The basic sense of mocking develops in Quranic usage into the Form X expression for engaging in mockery. In the specific divine construction الله يستهزئ بهم, it denotes requital through apparent respite and eventual sudden seizure, rather than ordinary human mockery.
- Maqāyīs · row 4881
- Mufradāt · row 1519
- 3
- Quran-attested forms
- 4
- Quran senses
- 34
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
اِسْتَهْزَأَ
āistahzaʾa
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form X
- Form
- X
- Quran occurrences
- 21 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 mock, ridicule, scoff at, or deride a person or thing.
Used for active and passive constructions of engaging in or being subjected to mockery; the Quranic usage includes mockery directed toward messengers, signs, revelation, or other persons.
- Mufradāt · row 1519
Selected Quran examples
Quran 9:65word 13
“mocking”
Quran 4:140word 13
“and ridiculed”
In the divine construction “God mocks them,” to requite their mockery by leaving them in delusion for a time and then taking them unexpectedly.
A Quran-specific figurative and retaliatory use, explained as a form of entrapment or requital rather than literal human mockery.
- Mufradāt · row 1519
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:15word 2
“mocks”
هُزْءٌ
huzʾun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 11 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.
Mockery, ridicule, or jesting treatment; something treated as an object of derision.
The Quran uses it in constructions such as taking a person, sign, revelation, or matter as mockery or jest, including اتخذ ... هزواً. The term can denote joking and conduct resembling joking, especially when used to belittle what is being discussed.
- Mufradāt · row 1519
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:231word 25
“(in) jest”
Quran 18:106word 9
“(in) ridicule”
مُسْتَهْزِئٌ
mustahziʾun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- 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.
One who mocks, ridicules, or treats others as objects of derision; a mocker.
A substantivized active participle of اِسْتَهْزَأَ; the Quranic occurrences are plural and refer to people characterized by this conduct.
- Mufradāt · row 1519
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:14word 16
“(are) mockers”
Quran 15:95word 3
“(against) the mockers”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:14مُسْتَهْزِءُونَ(are) mockers
- 2:15يَسْتَهْزِئُmocks
- 2:67هُزُوًۭا ۖ(in) ridicule
- 2:231هُزُوًۭا ۚ(in) jest
- 4:140وَيُسْتَهْزَأُand ridiculed
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 11 Classical meanings
هَزَأَ
To mock, scoff at, laugh at, deride, or ridicule someone.
The Form I verb is reported with بِهِ and, in some usage, مِنْهُ.
- Lane · entry 10469
هَزَأَ
To break a thing.
A Classical Form I use, including the breaking of arrowheads in a poetic expression.
- Lane · entry 10469
هَزَأَ؛ أَهْزَأَ
To cause death by severe cold.
Reported of killing camels or a person by cold; the attribution is explicitly considered possibly confused with هَرَأَ.
- Lane · entry 10469
هَزَأَ
To put a ridden beast in motion or excite it.
A Classical use applied to the beast on which one rides.
- Lane · entry 10469
هَزَأَ؛ هَزِئَ
To die suddenly, unexpectedly, or on the spot.
Reported of dying in one's place or immediately.
- Lane · entry 10469
أَهْزَأَ
To enter upon a period of severe cold.
A rare Form IV use, explicitly associated with the commonly used form أَهْرَأَ as a possible alternative or correction.
- Lane · entry 10470
أَهْزَأَ
Of a she-camel, to hasten with her rider.
Used in the construction اهزأت به ناقته.
- Lane · entry 10470
هُزْأَةٌ
A person who is mocked, derided, or regarded as ridiculous.
A noun naming the object or victim of mockery.
- Lane · entry 10473
هُزَأَةٌ
A person who mocks, scoffs at, laughs at, or derides others.
A noun naming the agent of mockery.
- Lane · entry 10474
هَازِئَةٌ
In the expression غَدَاةٌ هَازِئَةٌ, a morning of intense cold.
A tropical expression describing cold that makes people shrug and shiver as though mocked.
- Lane · entry 10475
هَازِئَةٌ
In the expression مَفَازَةٌ هَازِئَةٌ بِالرَّكْبِ, a desert that frustrates or “mocks” travelers.
A tropical personification of a desert that impedes a company of riders.
- Lane · entry 10476
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The cold-related Classical meanings are rare, and the severe-cold death usage is explicitly reported as possibly confused with هَرَأَ.