What it means
گرانی (gerâni) means the state of being expensive, high prices, or costliness. It is a pure Persian word, formed by adding the abstract suffix -i to the adjective گران (gerân), meaning heavy or expensive. While the technical word for inflation is تورم (tavarrom), gerani is the word ordinary Iranians reach for when complaining about the rising cost of living. Its opposite is ارزانی (arzâni), meaning cheapness or low prices.
How to use it
- گرانی داره همه رو خفه میکنه. (Gerani dare hame ro khafe mi-kone.) “The high prices are strangling everyone.”
- قیمت گوشت خیلی گرون شده، گرانی عجیبیه. (Qeymat-e gusht kheyli gerun shode, geranie ajibiye.) “Meat prices have gone up a lot, the costliness is something else.”
- با این گرانی چطور زندگی کنیم؟ (Ba in gerani chetour zendegi konim?) “With these high prices, how are we supposed to live?”
- گرانی ارز همه چیز رو گرون کرد. (Gerani-ye erz hame chiz ro gerun kard.) “The high exchange rates made everything expensive.”
Cultural note
Gerani is one of the most common topics of everyday conversation in Iran, especially since the 2018 currency crisis and subsequent rounds of sanctions that caused sharp drops in the value of the rial. Complaining about gerani is a social ritual, and phrases like “همه چیز گرون شده” (hame chiz gerun shode, “everything has gotten expensive”) are heard constantly in markets, taxis, and family gatherings. The word carries an emotional weight that the technical term تورم does not.