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.
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What should be of interest to most learners of Italian isn’t so much the technical but rather the figurative meaning of this word. Namely, it can be used to describe a person who is not at their best due to fatigue or confusion.
When the issue is fatigue, some possible translations include out of sorts, off kilter or off colour. If confusion is the issue, the translations bewildered, confused or disoriented work best.
Il bambino era totalmente sfasato nonostante avesse fatto una lunga nanna.
The baby was completely out of sorts even though he’d had a long nap.
Abbiamo appena finito il trasloco, finalmente! Che sudata! Mi sento un po’ sfasato adesso.
We just finished the move, finally! What an effort! I feel a bit disoriented now.
When it ends in an o, sfasato is masculine. Its corresponding feminine and plural forms are:
- sfasata (feminine, singular)
- sfasati (masculine, plural)
- sfasate (feminine, plural)
A few synonyms for sfasato you can come across are:
- confuso = confused
- stordito = dazed
- disorientato = disoriented
- stonato = out of sorts
Sfasato is also used quite a lot to talk about things that are out of sync, such as schedules or time zones.
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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.
