How the Bleep Do You Swear in Spanish?

Quick Answer

Have you ever looked up a swear word in a bilingual dictionary? ¡No tengas vergüenza!(Don’t be ashamed!) Learning how to soltar tacos(to curse) in Spanish is an entertaining way to improve your fluency and deepen your understanding of the language.

You aren’t fluent in Spanish if you can’t at least recognize the most common Spanish swear words. In this article, we’ll explain how to use the most common bad words in Spanish; however, we advise you to tread lightly with your profanity, as the meaning and severity of these words vary greatly depending on the context and the speaker's intent.

How the F Do You Say the F-Word in Spanish?

The various translations of fuck are some of the most common curse words in Spanish.

Joderis a verb used to talk about sexual intercourse in a vulgar manner.
- You can also use chingarin Mexico, follarin Spain, and singarin Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Peru.
- As with fuck in English, joder is also used as a standalone expletive.
¡Carajo!is an interjection used to express annoyance.
- You can also use ¡Joder! in Spain and ¡Chingados!in Mexico.
Irse a la mierdais used to express anger with or contempt for someone or something else.
The adjective puto(fucking) is used to add emphasis to a statement.
- Pincheis also used in Mexico.
The adjective jodido(fucked) is used to say that someone is screwed or something is ruined.

Now let’s check out some examples!

examples
¡Joder! Se me rompió el celular. Fuck! My cell broke.
Después de tantos años, ¿quieres romper conmigo? Pues, ¡vete a la mierda! After all these years, you want to break up with me? Well, fuck you!
¿Dónde está mi puto libro? Where's my fucking book?
Estás bien jodido, mano. You’re fucked, bro.

The A-Word, B-Word, and We Won’t Go There with the C-Word

There’s no shortage of Spanish insults to choose from when calling someone unpleasant or despicable.

Cabrónis the primary translation of asshole.
- You will also hear pendejoin Latin America, while gilipollasreigns supreme in Spain.
Cabrónand hijo de putaare almost completely interchangeable when calling someone a fucker, motherfucker, bastard, or son of a bitch.
For an unpleasant woman, use perra, cabrona, or zorra.

examples
¡Mi hermano es un auténtico cabrón! My brother is such an asshole!
Escucha, hijo de puta. Listen up, you motherfucker.
Esa zorra se llevó todos mis videojuegos. That bitch took all my video games.

Oh, Sugar!

Just like in English, shit in Spanish can be used to refer to excrement in a vulgar manner, express surprise or anger, or even compliment someone or something.

Mierda and cagar are the vulgar synonyms of cacaand hacer caca.
¡Mierda! is an interjection used to express surprise or anger.
To say that something is the shit (meaning excellent), use de puta madre.
- In Spain, la hostiais also used, while de poca madreis also heard in Mexico.
Me cago en…is one of the most common curse phrases used in Spain. It literally means I shit on…, but its translation varies based on context.

Let's take a look at a few examples!

examples
El cachorro se cagó en la cama. The puppy shat his bed.
¡Mierda! Me olvidé de estudiar. Shit! I forgot to study.
Pedro está saliendo con una supermodelo. - Me estás chingando, ¿verdad? Pedro is dating a supermodel. - You're shitting me, right?
¡Esta película está de puta madre! This movie is the shit!
¡Me cago en la leche! Dejé mi pasaporte en el avión. Fucking hell! I left my passport on the plane.

Colorful Phrases

Here are some colorful curse phrases that are used when the basic swear words just aren’t sufficient.

Spanish	English
Claro, carajo.	Fuck, yeah.
¡La puta madre que te parió!	You son of a bitch!
¡Mierda!	Shit!
Me importa una mierda.	I don’t give a shit.
¡Ni madres!(Mexico)	Fuck no!/No fucking way!
¡No mames!(Mexico)	Holy shit!/No fucking way!
¡No me jodas!	No fucking way!/Don't fuck with me!
¡Qué mierda!	What the hell/fuck!
¡Que te folle un pez!(Spain)	Screw you!
¡Un cojón!(Spain)	Fuck no!/No fucking way!

Now that you've got the naughty stuff down, why not take some time to learn more vocabulary that will make you sound like a local? Take a look at these articles!