pendejo
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Spanish pendejo.
Noun[edit]
pendejo (plural pendejos)
- (US, slang, derogatory) A stupid person.
Usage notes[edit]
- Typically only used by Spanish-speaking people.
Spanish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Inherited from Vulgar Latin *pectinī̆culum, diminutive of Latin pecten (“pubic hair, comb”). The unexpected /nd/ may be due to the influence of pender (“hang down, dangle”). Compare Portuguese pentelho.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
pendejo m (plural pendejos)
- pubic hair (a single hair growing in the pubic region)
- Hypernym: vello púbico
Noun[edit]
pendejo m (plural pendejos, feminine pendeja, feminine plural pendejas)
- (derogatory, vulgar, chiefly Latin America) arsehole, asshole, dirtbag, scumbag (a contemptible person)
- (derogatory, chiefly Latin America) dumbass (stupid person)
- Synonyms: idiota, (Spain) gilipollas, (Argentina, Dominican Republic) boludo
- Paco reprobó el examen. Es un pinche pendejo.
- Paco failed the test. He's a fucking dumbass.
- (chiefly Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay) young boy
- (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay) punk (an adolescent who presumes to be an adult)
- (Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Panama, Puerto Rico) coward
- (Peru, vulgar) perspicacious, perceptive, cunning, smart, clever, scoundrel
- Le lanzaron un huevo a María. ¡Puta, qué pendejos!
- They threw an egg at María. They're so clever!
Usage notes[edit]
- Although in some contexts zonzo, bobo, tonto, menso, culero, tarado, idiota, imbécil, estúpido and pendejo may be synonyms, in most contexts they have a different degree of intensity, with zonzo having the mildest connotation, increasing in intensity in that rough order, to estúpido and pendejo, which have the most offensive meaning.
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “pendejo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Spanish
- English terms derived from Spanish
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English
- English slang
- English derogatory terms
- en:People
- Spanish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Spanish terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *peḱ- (pluck)
- Spanish terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish 3-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/exo
- Rhymes:Spanish/exo/3 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns
- Spanish derogatory terms
- Spanish vulgarities
- Latin American Spanish
- Spanish terms with usage examples
- Argentinian Spanish
- Chilean Spanish
- Paraguayan Spanish
- Uruguayan Spanish
- Costa Rican Spanish
- Cuban Spanish
- Dominican Spanish
- Panamanian Spanish
- Puerto Rican Spanish
- Peruvian Spanish
- es:Fear
- es:Hair