Hebrew borrows its strongest swears from Arabic and Russian.

The 10 most-used swear words in Israel, ranked from nuclear to Grandma-safe. Tap “Hear it” to hear each one, or tap a red bar to reveal a word.

1. 1
   kus emakכוס אמק KUS eh-MAKYour mother’s c*** (from Arabic).
   Nuclear ▶ Hear it
2. 2
   ben zonaבן זונה ben ZO-naSon of a whore.
   Nuclear ▶ Hear it
3. 3
   lekh tizdayenלך תזדיין lekh tiz-da-YENGo f*** yourself.
   Very rude ▶ Hear it
4. 4
   zayinזין ZAH-yinDick.
   Very rude ▶ Hear it
5. 5
   sharmutaשרמוטה shar-MOO-taWhore (from Arabic).
   Very rude ▶ Hear it
7. 6
   kharaחרא kha-RAShit.
   Mild ▶ Hear it
8. 7
   maniakמניאק man-YAKJerk.
   Mild ▶ Hear it
9. 8
   dafukדפוק da-FOOKScrewed up.
   Mild ▶ Hear it
10. 9
    tembelטמבל tem-BELIdiot.
    Grandma-safe ▶ Hear it
11. 10
    lekh la’azazelלך לעזאזל lekh la-a-za-ZELGo to hell.
    Grandma-safe ▶ Hear it