What it means
دلزده (delzade) is a colloquial predicate adjective meaning disillusioned, jaded, or turned off. It is a pure Persian compound built from دل (del, heart) and زده (zade, struck or hit), the past participle of زدن (zadan, to strike). Literally the heart has been struck. The implication is that something hit the heart hard enough to knock the enthusiasm out of it. Delzade describes the state after repeated disappointments, after a hope dies, after familiarity breeds not contempt exactly but a flat, deflated indifference. It is more specific than خسته (khaste, tired) and less violent than متنفر (motanafer, hating). دلزده شدن (delzade shodan) is to become disillusioned; دلزده کردن (delzade kardan) is to turn someone off something.
How to use it
- از کارم دلزده شدم (az kâram delzade shodam) “I’ve become disillusioned with my work”
- این اتفاقا آدم رو دلزده میکنه (in ettefâqhâ âdam ro delzade mikone) “These things make you jaded”
- دلزدهست، دیگه انگیزهای نداره (delzade-st, dige angize-i nadâre) “He’s turned off, he has no motivation left”
- از عشق دلزده شده (az eshq delzade shode) “She’s become jaded about love”
Cultural note
دلزده is a distinctly colloquial word, far more natural in everyday Tehran speech than in formal writing, where دلسرد (delsard, cold-hearted, discouraged) or سرخورده (sarkh-orde, deflated) might appear instead. The compound follows a productive Persian pattern of del-based emotion words: دلتنگ (deltang, longing), دلسرد (delsard, disheartened), دلگیر (delgir, upset). Each of these takes the heart as the seat of feeling and describes what has happened to it. Delzade is the word for the quiet fading of enthusiasm after life has landed too many small blows.