ناز کردن

What it means

ناز کردن (naz-kardan) is the act of being charmingly difficult. A child who refuses to eat the dinner she actually wants, a girlfriend who turns away when you reach for her hand because she wants you to try harder, a friend who says no to the invitation expecting you to ask again: all of them are doing naz. The verb is affectionate, almost always positive when used between intimates, and it sits at the warmer end of taarof-adjacent behavior.

English “acting coy” gets close. “Being a brat” is too harsh. The Iranian frame treats naz as a small bid for attention that the other person is expected to indulge.

Compound verb structure

Compound of ناز (naz, the pampered charm itself, also the name Nazanin and the diminutive nazi) plus کردن (kardan, to do). Literally: to do naz. Kardan is the workhorse verb behind half of Persian’s everyday compounds: کار کردن (kar-kardan, to work), فکر کردن (fekr-kardan, to think). Here it conjugates normally: mikonam (I do it), kardam (I did it), bokon (do it). Naz stays unchanged.

Negation is common: ناز نکن (naz nakon), meaning stop being coy.

How it works socially

Naz is gendered in usage but not exclusively. Women and girls do naz more visibly; men and boys do it differently, often by pretending not to care about something they care about. The receiver’s job is to coax. Refusing to coax (“fine, don’t come, then”) is a small social failure unless the relationship is already strained.

Parents use it as praise: ناز بکش (naz bekesh), said to a baby, means roughly “let yourself be adored.” Adults use it ironically: ناز نکن (naz nakon), to a friend dragging their feet, means “stop performing, just say yes.” Persian songs and poetry have used the word for a thousand years to name the beloved’s charming difficulty, the very thing that makes the chase worth the chase.

Pair with naz-keshidan

Naz-kardan is the act, naz-keshidan is the held-out reluctance that invites coaxing. In daily speech the two slide into each other. If you can only learn one verb, learn naz-kardan; it covers more ground and sounds natural in more situations.

Examples

kheyli naz mikoneh, ye baar dige azash bekhah.

She’s being really coy, ask her one more time.

خیلی ناز می‌کنه، یه بار دیگه ازش بخواه.

bacheh-am sare khab naz mikoneh.

My kid plays coy at bedtime.

بچه‌ام سر خواب ناز می‌کنه.

References

• Dehkhoda, ناز
• Vajehyab, ناز کردن