Italian Swear Words: 30 Curse Words Rated by Strength
🇮🇹 Italian · 30 cards · B2 · by Giulia Ferrante
I teach Italian to travellers and expats, and swearing is usually the second question I get, right after how to order a coffee. So here are thirty words you will actually hear in Bologna traffic, in a bar, or from the person ahead of you in the queue, each rated 1 to 5 for strength.
Two warnings. Register: cazzo is everywhere among friends and nowhere in an office. Region: pirla is Milanese, minchia is Sicilian, mortacci tua is Roman, and bestemmie (blasphemy) are ordinary here in Emilia and genuinely shocking further south.
Learn all thirty so you understand what is being said. Use the ones rated 1 and 2.
Flip through the cards, then switch to Quiz. Tap the play button on any row to hear it. The full table below is there to read, print or copy into your own flashcard app.
The Reji iPhone app is being rebuilt and returns to the App Store soon.
All 30 cards
| # | Italian | English | Example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | accidenti Strength 1/5. Completely safe, usable in front of anyone, including your landlady. | damn!, darn it | Accidenti, ho perso l'ultimo treno! Damn, I missed the last train! | |
| 2 | cavolo Strength 1/5. Masculine noun, literally 'cabbage'; the polite stand-in for cazzo. Also 'non me ne importa un cavolo' = I couldn't care less. | heck, darn it | Che cavolo stai dicendo? What the heck are you saying? | |
| 3 | caspita Strength 1/5. Expresses surprise rather than anger; sounds slightly old-fashioned but is still very common. | wow!, good grief! | Caspita, che casa grande! Wow, what a big house! | |
| 4 | mannaggia Strength 1/5. Southern in origin (from Neapolitan 'male ne aggia'), now used all over Italy. Often 'mannaggia a te' = damn you. | damn it, dammit | Mannaggia, è finito il caffè. Damn, the coffee has run out. | |
| 5 | porca miseria Strength 2/5. Literally 'filthy poverty'; the mildest of the 'porca...' family and acceptable in most company. | damn it, bloody hell | Porca miseria, piove di nuovo. Bloody hell, it's raining again. | |
| 6 | che palle Strength 2/5. Literally 'what balls'. Very frequent among friends and colleagues; the clean alternative is 'che barba' (how boring). | what a pain, how annoying | Che palle, domani si lavora anche sabato. What a pain, tomorrow we have to work on Saturday too. | |
| 7 | scemo Strength 2/5. Feminine 'scema'. Almost affectionate between friends, rude to a stranger. | idiot, silly | Non fare lo scemo, dammi le chiavi. Don't be an idiot, give me the keys. | |
| 8 | cretino Strength 2/5. Feminine 'cretina'. Stronger than scemo, much weaker than stronzo. | idiot, moron | Quel cretino mi ha rigato la macchina. That idiot scratched my car. | |
| 9 | pirla Strength 2/5. Lombardy, above all Milan. Originally vulgar in dialect ('penis') but now felt as mild. Used for men and women alike. | idiot, prat | Sei un pirla, te l'avevo detto. You're a prat, I told you so. | |
| 10 | rompiscatole Strength 2/5. Invariable in gender: un/una rompiscatole. The toned-down form of 'rompipalle' and 'rompicoglioni' (strength 3-4). | pain in the neck, nuisance | Il vicino del secondo piano è un rompiscatole. The neighbour on the second floor is a pain in the neck. | |
| 11 | culo Strength 3/5 for the body part (masculine noun), but 'che culo' just means 'what luck' and is heard everywhere, including on TV. | arse, ass; luck | Che culo, ho trovato parcheggio subito! What luck, I found a parking spot right away! | |
| 12 | sfigato Strength 2/5. From 'sfiga' (bad luck). Feminine 'sfigata'. As a noun it means an uncool loser, which stings more than the adjective. | loser; unlucky | Sei proprio sfigato, piove sempre quando esci. You're really unlucky, it always rains when you go out. | |
| 13 | merda Strength 3/5. Feminine noun. In the theatre, 'merda, merda, merda' is said before a show to wish good luck, like 'in bocca al lupo'. | shit, crap | Questo film è una merda. This film is shit. | |
| 14 | cazzo Strength 4/5. Masculine noun, literally 'dick', but mostly an all-purpose intensifier. Extremely frequent in casual speech, never in formal settings. | fuck; dick | Che cazzo vuoi da me? What the fuck do you want from me? | |
| 15 | cazzata Strength 3/5. Feminine noun. Covers nonsense and blunders; 'è una cazzata' can also mean 'it's dead easy'. | bullshit, stupid thing to say | Ho detto una cazzata, scusami. I said something stupid, sorry. | |
| 16 | incazzarsi Strength 3/5. Reflexive verb built on cazzo. The adjective 'incazzato/incazzata' means furious. | to get pissed off | Mia madre si è incazzata di brutto. My mum got seriously pissed off. | |
| 17 | stronzo Strength 4/5. Literally a turd. The feminine 'stronza' is felt as harsher, closer to 'bitch'. | asshole, jerk | Il capo è uno stronzo con tutti. The boss is an asshole to everyone. | |
| 18 | stronzata Strength 3/5. Feminine noun, near-synonym of cazzata but leaning more towards false claims than mistakes. | bullshit, rubbish | Non credere a quelle stronzate. Don't believe that bullshit. | |
| 19 | coglione Strength 4/5. Literally 'testicle'. The plural 'coglioni' also means balls, as in 'rompere i coglioni' = to piss someone off. | dickhead, idiot | Smettila di fare il coglione. Stop acting like an idiot. | |
| 20 | testa di cazzo Strength 4/5. Feminine phrase (una testa di cazzo) whoever it refers to. Classic road-rage insult; said to someone's face it invites a fight. | dickhead | Quella testa di cazzo mi ha tagliato la strada. That dickhead cut me off. | |
| 21 | minchia Strength 3/5. Sicilian and southern counterpart of cazzo, now understood nationwide as an exclamation of surprise. | damn!, wow!; dick | Minchia, che caldo oggi! Damn, it's hot today! | |
| 22 | vaffanculo Strength 4/5. Contraction of 'va a fare in culo'. Milder versions: 'vai a quel paese', 'vai a farti benedire'. | fuck off, get lost | Vaffanculo, non ti parlo più. Fuck off, I'm not talking to you anymore. | |
| 23 | fottiti Strength 4/5. Imperative of 'fottersi'. Common in dubbed films; in real speech Italians reach for vaffanculo far more often. | screw you, fuck you | Fottiti, non mi serve il tuo aiuto. Screw you, I don't need your help. | |
| 24 | bastardo Strength 3/5. Feminine 'bastarda'. Also used of things: 'una salita bastarda' = a brutal climb. | bastard | Quel bastardo mi ha mentito in faccia. That bastard lied to my face. | |
| 25 | puttana Strength 4/5. Feminine noun and a misogynistic slur. Harmless only in food: 'pasta alla puttanesca'. | whore, hooker | Mi ha dato della puttana davanti a tutti. He called me a whore in front of everyone. | |
| 26 | porca puttana Strength 4/5. Pure frustration, aimed at nobody. Variants: 'porca troia'; 'porco cane' is a deliberately softened one. | fucking hell, goddammit | Porca puttana, mi sono tagliato un dito! Fucking hell, I cut my finger! | |
| 27 | troia Strength 5/5. Literally 'sow'. Heavily misogynistic: recognise it, but think twice before ever saying it. | slut, bitch | Non permetterti di chiamarmi troia. Don't you dare call me a slut. | |
| 28 | figlio di puttana Strength 5/5. Feminine 'figlia di puttana'. It insults the person's mother too, so it escalates a row fast. | son of a bitch | Quel figlio di puttana è scappato senza pagare. That son of a bitch ran off without paying. | |
| 29 | mortacci tua Strength 4/5. Roman, usually with 'li' in front. Literally an insult to your dead ancestors; between Roman friends it can sound almost affectionate. | damn you | Li mortacci tua, mi hai fatto spaventare! Damn you, you gave me a fright! | |
| 30 | porco dio Strength 5/5. A 'bestemmia' (blasphemy), the real taboo in Italy. Ordinary in parts of the North and Tuscany, shocking elsewhere. Recognise it; don't repeat it. | goddammit (blasphemy) | Porco dio, hanno chiuso l'autostrada. Goddammit, they've closed the motorway. |
From Bologna, where the food vocabulary alone could fill a deck. I teach Italian to travellers and expats and build decks around the situations they land in first.
Questions about this deck
- What is the strongest swear word in Italian?
- Not a sexual one but a blasphemous one. A 'bestemmia' such as 'porco dio' or 'porca madonna' is the hardest taboo in Italy: it can stop a conversation dead or get you thrown out of a bar. Among insults, 'troia' and 'figlio di puttana' are the heaviest, because they attack a woman's reputation or the listener's mother.
- Is 'cazzo' really that rude?
- It literally means 'dick', so yes, it is vulgar, but Italians use it constantly as an intensifier: 'che cazzo fai?', 'non me ne frega un cazzo', 'un cazzo di niente'. Among friends it barely registers; in a classroom, a work meeting or in front of your partner's grandmother it certainly does. Swap in 'cavolo', which fits exactly the same slots.
- Which Italian curse words are regional?
- 'Pirla' is Lombard (Milan), 'minchia' is Sicilian and southern, 'mortacci tua' and 'zoccola' are Roman, 'sfaccimma' is Neapolitan, 'belin' is Genoese. Blasphemy is strongly associated with Veneto, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany. 'Cazzo', 'stronzo', 'merda' and 'vaffanculo' are used and understood everywhere.
- How do Italians swear without actually swearing?
- They substitute harmless look-alikes: 'cavolo' for cazzo, 'porca paletta' or 'porca miseria' for porca puttana, 'accidenti' and 'caspita' for general annoyance, 'mannaggia' in the South, and 'vai a quel paese' instead of vaffanculo. All of these are safe at work and around children.
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