What it means
غش کردن (ghash kardan) means to faint, pass out, or lose consciousness for a short time. It is a compound verb: the noun غش comes from Arabic, while کردن (kardan), meaning “to do,” is the native Persian light verb that turns it into an action. People use it for a real medical faint and also loosely for feeling weak, dizzy, or overwhelmed. A close, more formal synonym is از حال رفتن (az haal raftan), “to go out of one’s state,” which carries a similar everyday feel.
How to use it
- وقتی خبر رو شنید غش کرد. (vaghti khabar ro shenid ghash kard.) “When she heard the news, she fainted.”
- هوا اینقدر گرم بود که نزدیک بود غش کنم. (havaa inghadr garm bood ke nazdik bood ghash konam.) “It was so hot that I almost fainted.”
- از گرسنگی دارم غش میکنم. (az gorosnegi daram ghash mikonam.) “I’m fainting from hunger.”
- یه لیوان آب قند بخور تا غش نکنی. (ye livaan aab ghand bokhor ta ghash nakoni.) “Drink a glass of sugar water so you don’t faint.”
Cultural note
In casual Persian, غش کردن is often used as a friendly exaggeration, not just for an actual faint. Saying از خنده غش کردم (az khande ghash kardam), “I died laughing,” is a very common way to describe laughing hard. You will also hear غش و ضعف کردن (ghash o za’f kardan) in everyday speech, pairing it with ضعف (weakness) for emphasis. In Arabic the spelling غش also covers a separate sense of cheating or adulteration, but in Persian the word settled into this sense of swooning.