What it means
خارش (khâresh) is the everyday Persian word for an itch or itching, that prickly, irritating feeling on the skin that makes you want to scratch. It is a native Persian word, the verbal noun of خاریدن (khâridan), to itch or to scratch. When you actually scratch, you use the related verb خاراندن (khârândan). A close relative in feeling is سوزش (suzesh), a burning or stinging sensation, but سوزش burns while خارش itches.
How to use it
- پوستم خارش داره. (pustam khâresh dâre.) “My skin is itchy.”
- این خارش ولم نمیکنه. (in khâresh velam nemikone.) “This itch won’t leave me alone.”
- جای پشه خیلی خارش داره. (jâye pashe kheyli khâresh dâre.) “The mosquito bite is really itchy.”
- به خاطر آلرژی تمام بدنم خارش گرفته. (be khâtere âlerži tamâme badanam khâresh gerefte.) “Because of an allergy my whole body has started itching.”
Cultural note
خارش is a common word you will hear in everyday talk and at the pharmacy or doctor’s office, often paired with داشتن (to have) as in خارش داشتن, to be itchy. Pharmacists and doctors use it for symptoms tied to dry skin, insect bites, and allergies, and a soothing cream is sometimes called پماد ضد خارش (zede khâresh), anti-itch ointment. There is also a well-known proverb, کسی نخارد پشت من جز ناخن انگشت من, meaning roughly “no one will scratch my back except my own fingernail,” used to say that in the end you can only rely on yourself.