Italy · Italianabbiocco
noun · Regional · ahb-BYOK-ko
The overwhelming drowsiness that follows a large meal. Roman in origin, now understood nationally, and with no single-word English equivalent.
Italy · Italian
Italian Slang
Italy unified its language relatively recently, and its slang still shows the seams. A great deal of what passes for Italian slang is regional dialect that escaped its home city — Roman and Neapolitan words in particular have spread nationwide through film and television while keeping an audible local flavour.
Italian also makes heavy use of gesture and intonation, and several entries below are words whose meaning is carried almost entirely by delivery. Where that is the case, the usage notes matter more than the definition.
47 terms, each with definitions and worked examples.
By topic
Each page below collects every Italian term we have on one subject, side by side.
Start with these
The terms below carry the most usage detail — register, origin and the situations where they go wrong. They are the ones worth reading in full before the rest.
All Italian slang A–Z
47 terms
Terms beginning with A
acqua in bocca
phrase, idiom · Colloquial
Keep it to yourself; don't breathe a word. The image is of holding a mouthful of water so you physically cannot speak.
allora
interjection, adverb · Colloquial · ahl-LOH-rah
So; right then; well. Opens a sentence, fills a pause, calls a room to order, or introduces a conclusion. Teachers begin lessons with it and waiters begin orders with it.
+1 more sense
andare a ruba
phrase, idiom · Colloquial
To sell out fast; to fly off the shelves.
aò
interjection · Regional · ah-OH
Hey; oi. The Roman attention-getter, used to open a sentence, hail a friend or express exasperation. As Roman as anything gets.
apericena
noun · Colloquial
An aperitivo with enough food laid on to replace dinner: you buy a drink and the buffet is included. A Milanese institution and a student survival strategy.
assurdo
adjective · Colloquial
Absurd — but used far more loosely than the English word, as a general marker of anything remarkable, exasperating or extreme.
avere le mani in pasta
phrase, idiom · Colloquial
To be involved in something, with good connections and inside knowledge. Can imply useful influence or something less savoury.
Use with care
Terms beginning with B
Terms beginning with C
capito?
interjection · Colloquial
You know? A tag appended to statements to check the listener is following, functioning much like English 'you know what I mean'.
+1 more sense
cavolo
interjection, noun · Colloquial
A euphemism for a much cruder word, used both as an exclamation and as an intensifier: che cavolo vuoi? — 'what the hell do you want?'
+1 more sense
che due palle
phrase · Vulgar
An intensified che palle — what an almighty drag.
Use with care
che ne so
phrase · Colloquial
How should I know? Also used mid-sentence as a hedge introducing an example plucked at random: 'a book, che ne so, or a plant'.
che palle
phrase, interjection · Vulgar
What a drag; how boring. An extremely common complaint about tedium rather than about anything genuinely bad.
Use with care
ci sta
phrase · Informal
That works; fair enough; it fits. Expresses that something is acceptable or reasonable.
+1 more sense
cioè
interjection, adverb · Colloquial · choh-EH
I mean; like. Nominally a clarifier, in practice one of the most common fillers in spoken Italian, particularly among younger speakers.
Terms beginning with D
Terms beginning with F
figata
noun · Informal
Something brilliant; a great thing. Che figata! — 'how cool is that!'
figo
adjective, noun · Informal · FEE-go
Cool, great. Che figo! — 'how cool!'
+2 more senses
Use with care
figurati
interjection · Colloquial
Don't mention it; not at all. The standard reply to thanks, and to an apology.
+1 more sense
fregarsene
verb · Informal
Not to care at all. Me ne frego — 'I couldn't care less'. Chi se ne frega — 'who cares'.
furbo
adjective, noun · Colloquial
Cunning, sly, quick to spot an angle. Admiring and disapproving at once — the furbo gets away with things, and Italians are ambivalent about whether that is a virtue.
+1 more sense
Use with care
Terms beginning with G
Terms beginning with I
Terms beginning with M
macché
interjection · Colloquial · mah-KEH
Not at all; nonsense; no chance. A flat, emphatic denial of what has just been suggested.
magari
interjection, adverb · Colloquial · mah-GAH-ree
If only! I wish. Standing alone, it expresses a wish the speaker thinks unlikely.
+2 more senses
mah
interjection · Colloquial
Hmm; well now. Signals doubt, scepticism or resigned uncertainty about what has just been said.
mannaggia
interjection · Informal · mah-NAH-jah
Damn; blast. A mild curse of frustration, often extended to mannaggia a te or mannaggia la miseria.
meno male
phrase, interjection · Colloquial
Thank goodness; just as well. Expresses relief that something worse did not happen.
Terms beginning with N
Terms beginning with P
pazzesco
adjective · Colloquial
Insane, unbelievable — usually in a good sense, but usable for anything extreme.
porca miseria
interjection, phrase · Informal
Damn it; bloody hell. The socially safe member of a large family of porca... expressions, the others of which are blasphemous and genuinely offensive.
Use with care
prego
interjection · Colloquial
You're welcome.
+3 more senses
Terms beginning with R
Terms beginning with S
sbattersi
verb · Informal
To go to a lot of trouble over something. Uno sbattimento is a hassle.
scialla
interjection, adjective · Informal
Relax; take it easy; no worries. Youth slang, Roman in origin and now broadly understood.
sclerare
verb · Informal
To lose it; to flip out from stress or frustration.
scocciare
verb · Colloquial
To annoy, to pester. Uno scocciatore is a pest.
+1 more sense
sfigato
adjective, noun · Informal
A loser; someone unlucky and uncool. Sfiga, the related noun, means bad luck.
Use with care
sgamare
verb · Informal
To rumble someone; to work out what they are really up to. Stronger than beccare — it implies seeing through a deception, not just catching someone out.
spacca
verb · Informal
It rocks; it's outstanding. Questo pezzo spacca — 'this track is a banger'.
spritz
noun · Colloquial
The orange aperitivo of prosecco, bitter liqueur and soda. Ordering one is the standard opening move of an Italian evening.
sticazzi
interjection · Vulgar
So what; who cares. Roman, vulgar, and widely misused outside Rome — it expresses indifference, not admiration, and Romans will tell you so.
Use with care