What it means
ابری (abri) means cloudy or overcast, describing a sky covered with clouds. It is formed from the pure Persian word ابر (abr, cloud) plus the adjectival suffix -i. The word abr goes back to Old Iranian and is related to ancient Indo-European roots for rain and cloud. In everyday speech, ابری can describe anything from a lightly clouded sky to a fully grey, overcast day, and context or added words like خیلی (kheyli, very) or کمی (kami, a little) clarify the degree. The natural opposite is آفتابی (âftâbi, sunny). For a sky that is specifically overcast and threatening rain, Iranians sometimes add بارونیه (bârunieh, it looks rainy) to make the sense more precise.
How to use it
- هوا ابریه، فکر کنم بارون بیاد. (havâ abriye, fekr konam bârun biyâd.) “It’s cloudy, I think it might rain.”
- تمام هفته ابری بود و آفتاب نزد. (tamâm-e hafte abri bud o âftâb nazad.) “It was cloudy all week and the sun didn’t come out.”
- یه ذره ابریه ولی بارون نمیاد. (ye zarre abriye vali bârun nemiyâd.) “It’s a bit cloudy but it won’t rain.”
- شمال همیشه ابریه، آدم باید عادت کنه. (Shomâl hamishe abriye, âdam bâyad âdat kone.) “The north is always cloudy, you have to get used to it.”
Cultural note
Iran’s northern provinces along the Caspian Sea, collectively called Shomal by Iranians, are famous for their persistent cloud cover and rain, making ابری the default weather description there for much of the year. Tehranis often travel to Shomal for green, lush scenery that stands in striking contrast to the dry, sunny capital. This regional weather difference means that ابری carries slightly different emotional weight depending on where you are: in Tehran a cloudy day is a welcome break from harsh summer sun, while in Gilan or Mazandaran it is simply Tuesday.