Italian Word of the Day: Giallo (yellow)

One of the seven colours that sits between arancione (orange) and verde (green) on the spectrum is giallo (yellow). It is also one of the three primary colours along with rosso (red) and blu (blue). It comes from the Latin word galbĭnus which means greenish-yellow or yellowish. Il giallo era il mio colore preferito quando …

Read more

Italian Word of the Day: Tirchio (stingy)

Are you wondering what the best Italian word is to describe that Scrooge in your life, the one who wouldn’t part with a penny if his or her life depended on it? Well, you’re in luck! 😉 The word for stingy in Italian is tirchio. According to Treccani, it likely comes from the old dialectal …

Read more

Italian Word of the Day: Faticoso (tiring)

The word faticoso in Italian, which translates as tiring or strenuous, comes from the verb faticare which is how you would say to labour or to struggle. It shares the same origin as the word fatigue in English. Because it is an adjective, the ending changes depending on whether you are talking about a masculine, …

Read more

Italian Word of the Day: Pulito (clean)

The adjective pulito, whose primary translation is clean in English, is the past participle of the verb pulire (to clean). It comes from the Latin verb ‘polire’ of the same meaning. Pulito is the masculine singular form of this adjective. In order to make it feminine, it is necessary to change the word final o …

Read more

Italian Word of the Day: Pigro (lazy)

Today we’re talking about one of my all-time favourite Italian words: pigro (lazy)! As with all adjectives with a word final o, you must change the ending according to the gender and number of the subject. pigro = masculine, singular pigra = feminine, singular pigri = masculine, plural pigre = feminine, plural Sono troppo pigro …

Read more

Italian Word of the Day: Stanco (tired)

The word for tired in Italian is stanco. It is derived from the verb stancare meaning to tire or to wear out. The feminine and plural forms of stanco are as follows: To say that you feel tired in Italian, you can use the expression mi sento stanco. Mi sento molto stanco oggi quindi non …

Read more