будала

Bulgarian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بدلا (budala), from Arabic بُدَلَاء (budalāʔ), plural of بَدَل (badal) and بَدِيل (badīl). Doublet of абда́л (abdál).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bodɐˈɫa]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

будала́ • (budalá) m or f (colloquial, derogatory)

1. dupe, fall guy, juggins
2. fool, simpleton, ass, booby, dolt, chump, ninny, puppethead, fathead, nincompoop, gander

   правя се на будала ― pravja se na budala ― play the fool

3. easy game, easy mark, easy meat

Declension

Declension of будала́

	singular	plural
indefinite	будала́ budalá	будали́ budalí
definite	будала́та budaláta	будали́те budalíte
vocative form	буда́ло budálo	будали́ budalí

References

• “будала”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2014
• “будала”, in Речник на българския език [Dictionary of the Bulgarian Language] (in Bulgarian), Chitanka, 2010
• “будала”, in Български тълковен речник [Bulgarian Explanatory Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), fourth edition, Sofia: Nauka i Izkustvo, 2005, page 77
• Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “будала̀”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 86

Macedonian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بدلا (budala), from Arabic بُدَلَاء (budalāʔ), plural of بَدَل (badal) and بَدِيل (badīl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbudaɫa]
• IPA^(key): [buˈdaɫa] (nonstandard)
• Hyphenation: бу‧да‧ла

Noun

будала • (budala) f (plural будали, relational adjective будалски, diminutive будалче, augmentative будалиште or будаличиште or будалетина)

1. fool
2. idiot
3. simpleton, fathead

Usage notes

• Although the word itself is feminine, it can also be applied to a masculine person without any change.

Declension

Declension of будала

	singular	plural
indefinite	будала (budala)	будали (budali)
definite unspecified	будалата (budalata)	будалите (budalite)
definite proximal	будалава (budalava)	будаливе (budalive)
definite distal	будалана (budalana)	будалине (budaline)
vocative	будало (budalo)	будали (budali)

Synonyms

• абдал m (abdal)
• глупак m (glupak)
• идиот m (idiot)
• шутрак m (šutrak)

Derived terms

• (verbs): будалее impf (budalee), побудали pf (pobudali), избудали pf (izbudali), се будали impf (se budali)
• (nouns): будалаштина f (budalaština), будалаштилак m (budalaštilak)
• (adjectives): будалест (budalest), будалски (budalski)
• (adverb): будалесто (budalesto)

References

• “будала” in Дигитален речник на македонскиот јазик (Digitalen rečnik na makedonskiot jazik) [Digital dictionary of the Macedonian language] − drmj.eu
• Koneski, Kiril (1999) “будала”, in Правописен речник на македонскиот литературен јазик (Pravopisen rečnik na makedonskiot literaturen jazik) [Orthographic Dictionary of the Macedonian literary language] (in Macedonian), "Prosvetno delo", page 34

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بدلا (budala), from Arabic بُدَلَاء (budalāʔ), plural of بَدَل (badal) and بَدِيل (badīl).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /budǎla/
• Hyphenation: бу‧да‧ла

Noun

буда̀ла f (Latin spelling budàla)

1. fool
2. idiot
3. simpleton

Usage notes

Although the word itself is feminine, it can also be applied to a masculine person without any change.

Declension

Declension of будала

	singular	plural
nominative	буда̀ла	будале
genitive	будале	буда́ла̄
dative	будали	будалама
accusative	будалу	будале
vocative	будало	будале
locative	будали	будалама
instrumental	будалом	будалама

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:budala.

Further reading

• “будала”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025