گستاخ

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian wstʾhw' (wistāx, “confident, bold”), from wistāxw, from Old Persian *vistāhuva-. Akin to Old Armenian վստահ (vstah), an Iranian borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ɡus.ˈtɑːx]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡʊs.t̪ʰɑ́ːx]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡʊs.t̪ʰɑ́ːx]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ɡʊs.t̪ʰɑ́ːx]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ɡus.t̪ʰɔ́ːx]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡ̥os.t̪ʰɒ́ːx]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡus.t̪ʰɔ́χ]

Readings
Classical reading?	gustāx
Dari reading?	gustāx
Iranian reading?	gostâx
Tajik reading?	gustox

Adjective

گستاخ • (gostâx) (comparative گستاخ‌تَر (gostâx-tar), superlative گستاخ‌تَرین (gostâx-tarin))

1. brash; impudent; insolent (of people)
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی, volume I, verse 84:

     باز گستاخان ادب بگذاشتند
     چون گدایان زله‌‌ها برداشتند

     bāz gustāxān adab bugḏāštand
     čōn gadāyān zala-hā bardāštand

     But once more the insolent fellows omitted to show respect and, like beggars, snatched away the viands.

Alternative forms

• بستاخ (bostâx), استاخ (ostâx) (obsolete)

Derived terms

• گستاخانه (gostâxâne, “rude (of actions)”)
• گستاخی (gostâxi)

 

Descendants

• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: गुस्ताख़ (gustāx)

  Urdu: گستاخ (gustāx)

• → Ottoman Turkish: گستاخ (güstâh), كستاخ (küstâh)
  • Turkish: küstah

References

• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “wistāx”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “گستاخ”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul