Gombal Meaning In Bahasa Indonesia

Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. This time, I will talk about the meaning of the word [gombal], and as usual, we will watch clips from movies and whatnot where the word [gombal] is spoken by Indonesians.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly. You can see how to do that on my About Me page. 

If you are a beginner in the Indonesian language, you can learn step by step with My Lesson Here.

So, let's talk about this word.

Meaning of Gombal In Bahasa Indonesia

According to Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, here is the meaning of the word [gombal].

As we can see, [gombal] has two meanings. The first meaning of gombal is [kain yang sudah tua (sobek-sobek), which is translated to English as [an old cloth that has torn apart].

You can say this is a gombal.

We usually use old clothes to mop the floor or to clean something. So, that's the first meaning of [gombal].

The second meaning of [gombal], according to Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, is [bohong, omong kosong, rayuan], which is translated to English as [lie, nonsense, sweet talk].

So, to know which one, we need to know the context first.

Example Sentences Using Gombal

Here are 3 example sentences using the word [gombal] with English translations.

Example Sentences	English Translation
1.       Udah ah! Kamu itu ngegombalin aku terus deh.	1.       You always sweet-talk me. Stop it!
2.       Eh, loe ada gombal ngga? Gue mau bersihin lantai yang kotor ini nih.	2.       Do you have dirty clothes? I want to mop this dirty floor right here.
3.       Dia mah kerjaannya ngegombalin cewe mulu deh!	3.       He always sweet-talks girls.

Next, let's hear how to pronounce the word [gombal].

How to Pronounce Gombal

Let's hear down below how to pronounce the word [gombal].


Next, let's watch clips from movies where the word [gombal] is spoken.

Examples of Gombal In Use

The first clip we are about to watch is from Tertusuk Cinta Sate Padang (2017). You can watch the movie in full HERE. 

Let's watch the clip below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pak Guru Iman (@pakguruiman)

The conversation in the scene above with English translations is as follows.

Audy: Ha? Maksud loe apa sih? Gue ngga ngerti. (What do you mean? I don't understand.)

Ryan: Maksudnya.. Ya.. Intinya sih, gue pingin.. pingin aja ngelihat loe makan di warung gue. Karena kalau misalkan loe ada di warung gue, gue itu seperti melihat bidadari yang lagi makan sate padang di warung gue. (What I meant was.. Hmm.. The thing is, I want.. I just want to see you eat at my food stall. Because if you were there in my food stall, it would be like seeing an angel from heaven eating at my food stall.)

Audy: Ih! Apaan sih? Gombal banget! Ngga ah! Ngga mau. (Hey! What are you talking about? You sweet-talk me! No! I don't want to hear it.)

Ryan: Gombal ya? (Sweet talk, huh?)

Audy: Malah sampe ilfil gue dengerin loe ngomong kaya gitu. Aah. (Makes me want to throw up to hear you speak like that. Oh.)

In this scene, Ryan sweet-talks Audy by saying [gue itu seperti melihat bidadari yang lagi makan sate padang di warung gue].

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Maksud loe apa sih?] is used when you don't understand what somebody is saying to you. To make it formal, you change [loe] into [Anda] and drop [sih]. It becomes, "Maksud Anda apa?"

[Gue ngga ngerti] is a conversational way of saying [saya tidak mengerti] = I don't understand.

[Ngerti] is short for [mengerti] = understand.

[Gue] = [gw] = [gua] = [w] is the informal way of saying [saya] = I. For more about this, you can read my article here, Gue In Indonesian.

[Loe] = [lo] = [elu] = [lw] is informal for [Anda] = you. For more about this, you can read my article here, Loe In Indonesian.

[Pingin] is the conversational way of saying [ingin] = want.

[Aja] is short for [saja] = just.

[Ngelihat] = [ngeliat] is the conversational way of saying [melihat] = to see. As you can see from the scene, Ryan uses [ngelihat] and [melihat], and it's common to hear Indonesians use [ngelihat] and [melihat] interchangeably in daily conversation in Indonesia.

[Warung] = food stall.

[Sate] = chicken skewer.

[Sate Padang] is one of the Indonesian dishes that is originally from Padang, West Sumatra. It looks like this.

Sate Padang

[Apaan sih?] can have many meanings depending on the context. For more about this, you can read my article here, Apaan Sih In Indonesian.

[Ngga ah] is when you refuse someone's offering.

[Sampe] is the conversational way of saying [sampai] = until.

[Ilfil] is a combination word from [ILang] and [FILing]. [Ilang] is short for [hilang] = to lose something, and [filing] comes from the English [feeling] but written in the Indonesian way. [Ilfil] is when you feel disgusted with the words or actions of other people. In this scene, Audy wants to throw up when she hears Ryan's sweet-talk words.

[Dengerin] is the conversational way of saying [mendengarkan] = to listen to.

[Ngomong] is the conversational way of saying [berbicara] = to speak (about something).

The second clip is from DOA: Cari Jodoh (2018). Let's watch the clip below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pak Guru Iman (@pakguruiman)

Below is the conversation from the scene above with English translations.

Ali: Eh, Yok! Ntar loe ngegombalnya yang bener, Yok! Jangan ngomongin politik loe sama si Ayu! (Hey, Yok! You gotta make a nice, sweet talk! Don't talk about politics with Ayu!)

Otoy: Bener! Loe kalo ngomong ngebosenin. Sejam berasa 60 menit ngobrol sama loe. Hehehe. (Agreed! Your talk is usually boring. One hour feels like 60 minutes talking with you. Hehehe.)

Ali: Emang harusnya berapa menit, Toy? (Actually, how many minutes should it be in one hour, Toy?)

Otoy: Orang biasanya tuh kalo botak di belakang, pinter. Ini bego! Eh! Lucu juga tuh die. Loe ngomongnya ye pas gombal sama si Ayu gitu, ye? Ngobrol sama kamu berasa cepet ya. Sejam berasa 60 menit. Hehehe. (Usually, when people have bald on the back of their heads, they are smart. But you're a dumbass! Hey! I think that's funny. So, when you talk to Ayu, talk like that, okay? Time flies when talking to you. One hour feels like 60 minutes. Hehehe.)

Ali: Jadi yang bener berapa lama sih? (So, actually, how long should it be?)

In this scene, they used many informal words usually spoken with close friends in Indonesia. Let's learn the vocabulary they used in this scene.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Eh] is used when you want to attract someone's attention, usually when you want to talk about something. For more about this, you can read my article here, Eh Meaning In Indonesian.

[Ntar] has the same meaning as [nanti] = later. [Ntar] is usually used in conversational Indonesian.

[Ngegombal] = [melakukan gombal] = doing the sweet talk.

[Ngegombalnya] <--- [Nya] in this refers to when you are doing the sweet talk or [ngegombal].

[Ngomongin] is the conversational way of saying [membicarakan] = to speak (about something).

[Sama] = with.

[Bener] is the conversational way of saying [benar]. [Benar] is formal, and [bener] is informal.

[Ngebosenin] is the conversational way of saying [membosankan] = boring.

[Sejam] = [satu jam] = one hour.

[Ngobrol] is a synonym for [ngomong], and the conversational way of saying [berbicara] = to speak (about something).

[Emang] is short for [memang] and is usually used when you want to ask about something, like in this scene.

[Orang] can mean many things, and usually, it means people. But in this context, it means because.

[Botak] = bald.

[Pinter] is informal for [pintar] = smart.

[Bego] = stupid.

[Lucu] = funny.

[Die] has the same meaning as [dia] = she or he. The Betawi people usually change the letter [a] into [e] like in this example. This movie has a setting in Jakarta, where many Betawi people live and use the Betawi language.

[Pas] means when. For more about this, you can read my article here, Pas Meaning In Indonesian.

[Ye] in [gitu, ye?] has the same meaning as [gitu, ya?] = okay?

[Cepet] is informal for [cepat].

[Sih] falls in the category of phatic expression. It doesn't have any meaning but delivers emotions to the sentence. For more about this, you can read my article, Sih In Indonesian.

The third clip is taken from a TV program called Opera Van Java. Let's watch the clip down below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pak Guru Iman (@pakguruiman)

The conversation from this clip with English translation is as follows.

Denny Cagur: Udah, udah, udah! Udah, udah! Ja-- Eh, eh, udah. Jangan suruh gue gombalin lagi ya. Gilang, gue ngga mau kalau disuruh lagi. Loe tahu ngga? Cinta itu bukan buat main-main! (Enough, enough, enough! Enough, enough! That's enough. Don't ask me to do the sweet-talking again. Gilang, I don't want to do it anymore. You know what? Love is not something you can play with!)

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Udah] is short for [sudah] = already.

[Suruh] means that you order someone to do something for you.

[Gombalin] is the conversational way of saying [menggombali] = to talk sweet to someone.

[Cinta] = love.

[Main-main] is short for [bermain-main] = playing around.

     Read also: Baper In Indonesian

That's wrap up today's article. If I find another example, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. Thank you for reading my article, and if you have any questions, just leave them in the comment below. Thank you very much, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.