What it means
ردی (raddi) means failing an exam, receiving a failing grade, or being held back to repeat a school year. The word is built from the Arabic root رد (radd), meaning rejection or sending something back, with the Persian noun-forming suffix -i. It is colloquial in register and used openly among students, parents, and teachers in informal speech. Its opposite is قبولی (ghabulli). In a more formal written context you might see the verb رد شدن (radd shodan) used instead, but ردی as a standalone noun is distinctly spoken-register.
How to use it
- ردی خوردم تو امتحان فیزیک. (raddi khordam tu emtehâne fizik.) “I failed the physics exam.”
- اگه ردی بگیری باید دوباره بخونی. (age raddi begiri bâyad dobâre bekhuni.) “If you fail, you have to study it again.”
- امسال ردی نخوردم! (emsâl raddi nakhordam!) “I didn’t fail anything this year!”
- بچهها از ردی میترسن. (bachehâ az raddi mi-tarsan.) “Kids are scared of failing.”
Cultural note
In the Iranian school system, failing a subject means sitting a make-up exam in late summer, called امتحان مجدد (emtehâne mojadad). If a student fails the make-up as well, they repeat the entire year, which is still sometimes called ردی خوردن (raddi khordan), literally absorbing a rejection. The phrase carries social stigma and is whispered rather than said plainly in front of the student in many traditional families.