What does khalas mean?
Khalas means “enough,” “done” or “that's it.” It can stop an argument (“khalas, stop”), settle a plan (“khalas, tomorrow at five”) or accept that something is over.
Literally: From the root kh-l-ṣ (to finish, to be freed of something) → "it's finished"
خلاص
texted as khalas
How it sounds across the Arab world
Tap to hear it in each dialect, with notes on how people there use it.
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PalestinianJerusalem, Nablus, Gaza, Jenin0:01خلاصkha-LAS texted as khalas
Also a deal-closer: “khalas, ittafa'na” (done, we agreed).
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LebaneseBeirut, Tripoli, Saida0:01خلاصkha-LAS texted as khalas
“Khalas ba'a” is “enough already,” usually with a sigh.
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EgyptianCairo, Alexandria0:01خلاصkha-LAS texted as khalas
Same range. “Khalas, mashi” means “okay, fine, done.”
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GulfKuwait, the Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar0:01خلاصkha-LAS texted as khalas
Very common, including as a simple “okay, agreed.”
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IraqiBaghdad, Basra, Mosul0:01خلاصkha-LAS texted as khalas
Same uses: “stop,” “done,” “agreed.”
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Formal ArabicTextbooks, news, speechessays this insteadكفىKA-fa texted as kafa
The formal word for “enough.” In formal and church Arabic, khalas itself means salvation.
The story behind khalas
The root kh-l-ṣ means to finish, and also to be freed from something. Khalas is the noun: the end of it, the release. In everyday Arabic, from Gaza to Baghdad, it's the word that closes things.
It closes arguments: a father driving, two kids fighting in the back seat, one word from the front, khalas. It closes deals: after ten minutes of haggling over a rug in the old city of al-Quds, the seller names his last price, shrugs, and says khalas. It closes sad chapters too. A friend sitting with someone after a breakup might say “khalas, it's over,” meaning let it go, it can stop hurting now.
Arab Christians hear an extra layer. In church Arabic, al-khalas is salvation, the deliverance at the centre of the faith. So the same word that ends a squabble over the TV remote is, in a Sunday sermon in Bethlehem, the word for being saved.
In a sentence
How people actually use it, dialect by dialect.
- Palestinianخلاص، بكرا الساعة خمسةkhalas, bukra is-sa'a khamseDone, tomorrow at five.
- Egyptianخلاص بقى، كفايةkhalas ba'a, kifayaEnough already, that's enough.
- Gulfخلاص، ما في مشكلةkhalas, ma fi mushkilaOkay, no problem.
People also ask
Is khalas rude?
Not in itself. It's direct, and tone makes it gentle or harsh. Said softly it can comfort: “khalas, it's over, don't cry.”
What's the difference between khalas and bas?
Both can mean “enough.” Bas also means “only” and “but,” while khalas leans toward “finished” or “settled.”
How do you reply to khalas?
If it's closing a plan, “tamam” (okay) or “yalla” works. If someone is ending an argument with it, the usual move is to drop the subject.
Related words
Words that tend to come up in the same conversation.
How we checked this page
Checked by two AI models, not yet by a native speaker
Each dialect form above is shown only if it passed an independent check. If we weren't sure how a dialect says it, we left that dialect out rather than guess. The audio is an AI voice tuned to each dialect; we're replacing it with real speakers over time. How we check words.