Adjectives – Daily Italian Words

Italian Word of the Day: Affascinante (fascinating / attractive)

The Italian adjective affascinante, which can translate in a number of ways including fascinating and attractive, comes from the verb affascinare meaning to fascinate. Learn about ‘affascinante’ with our video The singular form is always affascinante and the plural form is always affascinanti regardless of the gender of the subject. When used to describe a …

Italian Word of the Day: Balordo (stupid / foolish)

Balordo is one of those fun Italian adjectives that you will rarely see in a textbook, but comes up all the time in casual conversation between native speakers. Its etymological origin has not been confirmed. It may derive from the French balourd, which in turn comes from the ancient French beslourd. Learn with our video …

Italian Word of the Day: Sfasato (out of phase / out of sorts)

The adjective sfasato in Italian, which derives from the verb sfasare (to dephase), is used in technical terms to mean out of phase mainly in reference to motors and electrical currents. Learn with our video What should be of interest to most learners of Italian isn’t so much the technical but rather the figurative meaning …

Italian Word of the Day: Pignolo (fussy / pedantic)

The adjective pignolo (also written as pignuolo in rare cases) in Italian is used to describe someone who is fussy, pedantic or extremely meticulous in nature. Learn with our video It derives from the word pigna (pine cone), but precisely how it came to denote a fussy person is uncertain. According to Treccani, this figurative …

Italian Word of the Day: Lunatico (moody)

The adjective lunatico in Italian is used to describe someone with a fickle and inconstant character, who is subject to mood swings or sudden outbursts of anger. Although it shares the same origin as the English word lunatic, its meaning is closer to moody or temperamental. Learn with our video Lunatico comes from the Latin …

Italian Word of the Day: Gettonato (popular / well-liked)

Gettonato is an adjective that has interesting links to the early days of popular music. Although today it can denote almost anything that is popular or well-liked, it used to refer specifically to popular songs or singers. Learn with our video To understand why, we need to take a deeper look at the origin of …