What it means
لاغر (lâghar) means “thin” or “slim” in Persian and is one of the oldest native words for this concept in the language, inherited from Middle Persian lāgar and tracing back to Proto-Iranian roots. The etymology has occasionally been linked to Turkic parallels by some researchers, but the majority of reference dictionaries, including Dehkhoda, treat it as a native Iranian word. Depending on context it can be neutral, describing a naturally slim build, or gently negative, suggesting someone looks gaunt or underweight. A close synonym is باریک (bârik), which emphasizes narrowness more than thinness of body, and the informal antonym is چاق (châq), meaning fat or overweight.
How to use it
- اون خیلی لاغر شده، درسته؟ (un kheyli lâghar shodeh, doroste?) “He has gotten very thin, hasn’t he?”
- لاغری بهت میاد. (lâghri behet miyâd.) “Being slim suits you.”
- بعد از مریضی خیلی لاغر شدم. (ba’d az marizzi kheyli lâghar shodam.) “After the illness I became very thin.”
- اون دختره هیکل لاغری داره. (un dokhtare heykal-e lâghri dâre.) “That girl has a slim figure.”
Cultural note
In traditional Persian culture, a somewhat fuller figure was associated with health and prosperity, making لاغر a word that could carry concern rather than a compliment. Contemporary Iranian beauty standards, shaped partly by global media, have shifted toward valuing slimness, so the word’s social weight has changed across generations. The derived noun لاغری (lâghri) is used both to mean thinness as a state and informally to refer to a weight-loss regimen, much like the English use of “being skinny.”