What it means
بیشتر (bishtar) is a native Persian word, the comparative form of بیش (bish, ‘more/much’), which traces to Old Iranian. The suffix -تر (-tar) is the standard Persian comparative marker, the same ending that makes بزرگتر (bozorgtar, ‘bigger’) from بزرگ (bozorg, ‘big’). So بیشتر means literally ‘more-er’, that is, ‘more’ or ‘more of’. With the definite sense ‘the most’ it is still بیشتر in spoken Persian: بیشتر از همه (bishtar az hame, ‘more than everyone’, meaning ‘the most’). Its direct antonym is کمتر (kamtar, ‘less’). The word appears in one of the most repeated Persian proverbs: هرکه بامش بیش، برفش بیشتر (harke bâmash bish, barfash bishtar, ‘whoever has a bigger roof has more snow on it’), meaning the more you have, the more trouble you face.
How to use it
- بیشتر بخور. (Bishtar bokhor.) “Eat more.”
- بیشتر از این نمیتونم. (Bishtar az in nemitunam.) “I can’t do more than this.”
- اون بیشتر از من کار میکنه. (Un bishtar az man kâr mikone.) “He works more than I do.”
- یه کم بیشتر وقت لازمه. (Ye kam bishtar vaqt lâzeme.) “A little more time is needed.”
Cultural note
بیشتر is one of the words Iranians use to push back politely: when a host offers food and you try to refuse, they will say بیشتر بخور (bishtar bokhor, ‘eat more’) as an expression of care rather than a command. The comparative structure in Persian is simple because it relies on a single suffix -تر and the preposition از (az, ‘than’), so بیشتر از تو (bishtar az to, ‘more than you’) follows the same pattern as every other comparison. This regularity makes بیشتر one of the easiest advanced words for beginners to start using immediately.