گستاخ

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian wstʾhw' (wistāx, “confident, bold”), from wistāxw, from Old Persian *vistāhuva-. Akin to Old Armenian վստահ (vstah), an Iranian borrowing.

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ɡus.ˈtaːx/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡʊs.t̪ʰɑ́ːx]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ɡʊs.t̪ʰɑ́ːx]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ɡus.t̪ʰɔ́ːx]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡ̥os.t̪ʰɒ́ːx]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡus.t̪ʰɔ́χ]

Readings
Classical reading^?	gustāx
Dari reading^?	gustāx
Iranian reading^?	gostâx
Tajik reading^?	gustox

Adjective

گستاخ • (gostâx) (comparative گستاخ‌تَر, superlative گستاخ‌تَرین)

brash; impudent; insolent (of people)
- c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume I, verse 84:
  باز گستاخان ادب بگذاشتند
  چون گدایان زله‌‌ها برداشتند
  bāz gustāxān adab bugḏāštand
  čōn gadāyān zala-hā bardāštand
  But once more the insolent fellows omitted to show respect and, like beggars, snatched away the viands.

Alternative forms

بستاخ (bostâx), استاخ (ostâx) (obsolete)

Derived terms

گستاخانه (gostâxâne, “rude (of actions)”)
گستاخی (gostâxi)

Descendants

→ Hindustani:
Hindi: गुस्ताख़ (gustāx)

Urdu: گستاخ (gustāx)
→ Ottoman Turkish: گستاخ (güstâh), كستاخ (küstâh)
- Turkish: küstah

References

MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “wistāx”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press
Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “گستاخ”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul