A person who is uninhibited, confident and sure of themselves can be called spigliato in Italian. It is the past participle of the verb spigliare, meaning “to make (someone) more relaxed and confident”.
Because it is an adjective, the form changes depending on the gender and plurality of the noun in question:
- spigliato = masculine, singular
- spigliata = feminine, singular
- spigliati = masculine, plural (also used for mixed groups of men and women)
- spigliate = feminine, plural (only used for more than one female)
Spigliato can be used to describe a person’s character (e.g. un ragazzo spigliato = a self-confident guy) or their behaviour (e.g. modi spigliati = easygoing behaviour).
Trovo che sia fin troppo spigliato davanti alle telecamere.
I find him just a bit too self-confident in front of the camera.
A second, figurative meaning for spigliato is fluent or brisk, used most notably when talking about a person’s speaking or writing style.
È importante scrivere con uno stile spigliato usando grammatica, ortografia e punteggiatura corrette.
It is important to write in a fluent style using correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.
Related to spigliato is the term spigliatezza, which means breeziness or confidence.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
