Skip to content

balewala

worthless or ignored

adjective ba-le-wa-LA DERIVED Less Common
Illustration of the root word "wala" (zero; none; absent; nothing; free from)
Illustration from root: wala

From root: wala

Usage Note

Balewala describes something that is treated as if it has no value or importance. It is frequently used when someone feels their efforts are being disregarded.

Examples

Beginner

" Balewala sa kaniya ang sinabi ko. "

Natural Translation

What I said meant nothing to him.

Literal Translation

Worthless to him the said I.

Intermediate

" Balewala ang lahat ng hirap ko. "

Natural Translation

All my hard work feels worthless.

Literal Translation

Worthless the all of hardship mine.

Advanced

" Para sa kaniya ay balewala ang lahat ng tulong namin, kaya unti-unti na kaming lumayo sa kaniya. "

Natural Translation

To him all our help meant nothing, so little by little we started to distance ourselves from him.

Literal Translation

For to him is worthless the all of help our, so little-by-little already we distanced to him.

Free · iOS & Android

Take Tagalog with you

The full course, a 12,500-word dictionary, and flashcards that make every word stick — free to start on iOS and Android.

Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.

How Tagalog words work

Word family

wala has 10 related forms built from the same root.

See all

Explore Tagalog by topic

Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.