Italian curse words – Swear in Italian

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Like any other language, Italian has its own parolacce, curse words, too. Often accompanied by funny Italian gestures, they are used in many different situations, including everyday conversations, to communicate what you are feeling, to indicate times you are frustrated or generally to insult someone during a quarrel. However, young generations employ them to mock their friends, to express admiration towards other people and even to start a conversation.

Most Used Italian curse words

According to Vito Tartamella’s article, a famous Italian jounalist, the most used Italian curse words are cazzo (fuck!), Madonna (oh, mother!),  stronzo (asshole!), coglione (idiot!) and merda (shit). Surprisingly, the less used curse word is vaffanculo (fuck off!).

Now it’s time to give a look at the following list showing the most common swear words Italians principally use when they are stuck in traffic, argue with each other or express their feelings according to the context.    

Italian / English Use
Cazzo! / Minchia!   Fuck! When your intention is to indicate surprise, anger, disappointment and, in some cases, appreciation
Testa di cazzo! / Testa di minchia!   Dickhead! / Prick!   When you refer to an unkind, disagreeable and rude man or woman
Cazzone! / Minchione!   Idiot! When your desire is to report a jerk, stupid or lunkhead person
Cavolo!   (Literally: cabbage) Holy crap! When you express amazement, wonderment and, in certain circumstances, annoyance
Vaffanculo!   Fuck off! / Fuck you! When you invite somebody to stop doing something or to leave
Porca puttana! / Porca troia! / Porca miseria!   Bloody hell! / Damn! / Dammit! When you need to communicate anger, frustration and also pain
Merda!   Shit! When you wish to  underline you are furious or something is going wrong 
Figlio di puttana!   Son of a bitch! When you just want to insult someone or, in other cases, state that you are a smart and foxy guy 
Stronzo!   Asshole!  When you point out a bad, hateful and reprehensible person
Madonna! / Madonna santa!   Oh, mother! When you are surprised, happy, nervous or bothered
Che palle!   What a pain in the ass! When something bothers or bores you
Che figata!    That’s awesome! / That’s cool! When you see or do something pleasant, great and amazing
Morto di figa!   Poonhound! When you mention a man who really enjoys to ask women for sex in a compulsive way  
Rincoglionito! / Rimbambito!   Numbnuts! When you identify a guy who is mainly fool, heedless and with his head in the clouds
Rompicoglioni! / Cagacazzo!   Ball breaker! / Ballbuster! When you describe a really irritating and  troublesome person
Leccaculo! / Leccapiedi! / Lecchino!   Ass licker! Kiss-ass! When you speak of a man or a woman who pretends to appreciate someone’s deeds for personal gain
Coglione!   Idiot! When you are talking about an incompetent, dumb and naive person 
Pezzo di merda!   Piece of shit! When you name an awful and wretched person
Cornuto!   Cuckold! When you refer to a man whose wife is cheating on him. Be careful when you use it! 

Italian Curse Words in Context

Ma di che cazzo stai parlando? Io non c’entro niente con questa storia!

What the fuck are you talking about? I had nothing to do with that!  

Merda! Ho dimenticato di nuovo le chiavi di casa da Katy e Steven!

Shit! I forgot my keys at Katy and Steven’s again!  

Lo sai che Michael quest’estate ha fatto bungee jumping nel Grand Canyon? Che figata!

Do you know Michael went bungee jumping in the Grand Canyon this summer? That’s awesome!  

Davvero hai speso 500 dollari in un fine settimana? Sei proprio un coglione!

Did you really spend 500 dollars on a weekend? You are such an idiot!  

Pezzo di merda! Ho dovuto fare tutto da solo perché non c’eri in quel momento!

Piece of shit! I had to do it all by myself because you weren’t there  in that moment!  

3 reasons you should know Italian curse words

Before moving forward to more expressions, I want to show you three main reasons why you need to learn Italian curse words.

1. Swearing is good for your health

In her book “Swearing is Good for You: the Amazing Science of Bad Language”, British PhD scientist Emma Byrne refers to the latest research from prominent neuroscientists, psychologists and sociologists to prove that cursing is a good thing for your physical and mental wellness. That’s because it can help you reduce stress, better tolerate any type of pain and release vivid emotions that make you feel stronger. Furthermore, it boosts human sociality and team spirit, too.

Instead, some experts assert the act of cursing could be even considered a sign of verbal fluency and intelligence.

2. Italian curse words are used in everyday life

If you are in Italy and want to settle in more easily, then you better learn Italian curse words. Seen as Italians do not always make use of a formal language in their daily routine, it could help you know them for various reasons: not only to break the ice in a conversation, make some friends or catch something during small talks, but mainly to embrace the opportunity to find out other sides of Italian lifestyle.

Naturally, the use of curse words usually occurs when your Italian friend and you become closer after seeing each other on several occasions. 

3. Curse words belong to Italian culture

If you just look at Italian songs , movies and even politics, you are already able to understand the critical role that curse words take on specific social contexts. Famous songs like “È venerdì, non mi rompete i coglioni” and “Bella stronza”, respectively by Italian singers Luciano Ligabue and Marco Masini, are clear examples proving that a significant occurrence of curse words in Italian language. Even Italian stand-up comedian and political activist Beppe Grillo, as well as art historian Vittorio Sgarbi, became very popular for their excessive usage of swear words after taking part in the most well-known Italian talk shows. 

Most common expressions with Italian curse words

Beyond single bad words, there are also a lot of idioms related to curse words you might hear if you witness or get involved in a disagreement or a fight among Italians.

To make sure you clearly understand what is going on in case of an argument, probably you should check out the following expressions:  

Italian / English Meaning
Rompere i coglioni / Rompere il cazzo   (Literally) to crack the balls / to crack the dick Being really annoying
Dire cazzate / dire minchiate   (Literally) to say bullshit Saying stupid things
Andare a puttane   (Literally) to go whoring Something going bad or failing
Stare sui coglioni / stare sul cazzo   (Literally) to stand on testicles / to stand on dick Finding someone or something annoying
Girare i coglioni   (Literally) testicles are turning around Being angry, in a bad mood
Non capire un cazzo / non capire una sega / non capire un tubo   (Literally) not to understand a dick / not to understand a saw / not to understand a pipe Not understanding anything
Levarsi dai coglioni / levarsi dalle palle    (Literally) to get out from the balls Not getting in someone’s way
Averne le palle piene    (Literally) to have the balls full of something   Not being able to take it anymore
Fare cagare    (Literally) to make shit / to suck Being lousy, incapable to do something
Avere culo (Literally) to have butt Being lucky
Avere i coglioni / avere le palle   (Literally) to have the balls Being strong, determined and brave to do something

Italian Curse Words in Context

Ma perché stanno urlando quei tipi? Stanno davvero rompendo il cazzo!

Why are those guys yelling? They’re being really annoying!

Ti prego, oggi evita di parlarmi perché mi girano i coglioni di brutto!

Please, avoid talking to me because today I’m in a truly bad mood!

Stai zitto! Come al solito, non hai capito un cazzo di quello che ho detto!

Shut up! As usual, you didn’t understand anything of what I’ve said!

Sto facendo tardi! Anziché restare lì impalato, perché non ti levi dai coglioni?

I’m getting late! Instead of standing right there, why don’t you stop getting in my way?

Basta, questa situazione non mi piace per niente! Ne ho le palle piene!

That’s enough! I don’t really like this situation! I can’t take it anymore!

Using curse words in Italy

Italian curse words are widely known and used throughout the country without any particular distinction of age, generation and social class.  Nevertheless, there is a huge difference from a geographical point of view linked with the type of swear words and the frequency of use.

Starting with typology of curse words, in some regions of North Italy like Veneto and Tuscany people are likely to mix profanities with ordinary swear words without causing much offense. During the years, this “particular” type of curse words turned into real filler words and stereotypes.

On the contrary, you will hardly ever hear Southern Italians using blasphemies since there is a strong religious faith to be respected.

While profanities are firmly disliked, other curse words are smoothly accepted. As regards the frequency of use, recent studies show that Northern Italians resort to curse words to a greater extent than Southern Italians.

The importance of Italian Curse Words

As we already mentioned above, Italians often use curse words on several occasions: when an intense conflict occurs, when they feel stressed out, impatient or furious, when they want to laugh at other people and even when they joke around with each other in a familiar context.

Learning Italian curse words basically gives you the possibility to know more about Italian culture and its “colourful” shades. Beyond that, you can have the chance to understand other “Italian-shaped ways” of approaching and talking during everyday life.

An important thing to remember is that you cannot always use curse words in Italian, especially in case you are not sure of the type of relationship you have with an Italian man or woman; for this reason, it is necessary to check this out in advance. Actually, in Italy it is quite unusual to listen to a guy you barely know expressing himself with swear words after a few times you saw each other. Obviously, things can be different according to the situation. Anyway, you’d better use Italian curse words sparingly and chiefly in very informal contexts.

Therefore, if scientists state that cursing is good for our health, don’t be afraid of cursing at someone from time to time when you are uptight or terribly vexed. But remember not to exaggerate!   

Dire Conjugation – How to Sound Like an Italian!

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Dire Conjugation could surely be very helpful to you when starting a conversation with someone coming from Italy. 

Dire is one of the most well-known Italian verbs you can’t do without: it’s primarily employed to report what people say or just said, to tell stories and so on. Moreover, it is considered as a verb of third conjugation because it ends in -ire. Apart from being an irregular verb, it also has various equivalents in English: to say, tell, recite and even talk. 

To better understand what we are talking about, look at the following examples:  

Perché non mi hai detto dell’audizione?
Why didn’t you talk to me about the audition? 

Allora, che ti ha detto? È ancora arrabbiata con me, non è vero? 
So, what did she tell you? She’s still mad at me, isn’t she?  

Dire Conjugation – Presente 

Presente Indicativo of the Italian Verb Dire

First of all, we have to say that dire has an irregular conjugation. For this reason, you should learn it by heart. Let’s begin with the Presente, one of the most used Italian tenses to indicate habits or actions that are happening right now:   

Io dico 
Tu dici 
Lui / Lei dice 
Noi diciamo 
Voi dite 
Loro dicono 

Examples: 

Dico solo che dovresti essere più gentile con il tuo patrigno. 
I’m just saying you should be kinder to your stepfather.  

Margot dice che stasera verrà a cena con il suo nuovo ragazzo.
Margot says that she is coming for dinner tonight with her new boyfriend. 

Fun fact: did you know that Italians sometimes get confused when they have to employ dite in a sentence? Some of them often make a mistake by saying dicete instead of dite. As you can see, in the conjugation of dire in the present tense, the consonant c occurs in every person, except in the second plural. For this reason, you might be mistaken. Therefore, pay attention when using the verb in the Presente!       

Dire Conjugation – Passato Prossimo 

Io ho detto 
Tu hai detto 
Lui / Lei ha detto 
Noi abbiamo detto 
Voi avete detto 
Loro hanno detto 

Going on, we can bump into Passato Prossimo, tense employed when mentioning actions that happened in the recent past. Like many other verbs, dire also requires the auxiliary to have.    

Examples: 

Che cosa ti ha detto quando vi siete rivisti?
What did he tell you when you ran into each other again?  

Matthew mi ha detto che trascorrerà le vacanze di Natale con noi.
Matthew told me he is spending Christmas holidays with us.  

Dire Conjugation – Imperfetto 

Io dicevo 
Tu dicevi 
Lui / Lei diceva 
Noi dicevamo 
Voi dicevate 
Loro dicevano 

Instead, you resort to Imperfetto in Italian when wanting to report past habits or actions in progress in the past.   

Examples: 

I tuoi genitori dicevano che sarebbe venuto a trovarci.
Your parents said they would come to visit us. 

Diceva sempre la verità ma comunque nessuno gli credeva.
He always used to tell the truth but no one believed him anyway.

Dire Conjugation – Trapassato Prossimo 

Dire Conjugation - Trapassato Prossimo
Io avevo detto 
Tu avevi detto 
Lui / Lei aveva detto 
Noi avevamo detto 
Voi avevate detto 
Loro avevano detto 

Concerning Trapassato Prossimo, this tense is basically applied when referring to an event that occurred before another one in the past. To form it, you need the simple past of avere, together with detto, the past participle of dire.   

Examples: 

Non mi avevi detto che sarebbe venuto anche Lea a Roma.
You hadn’t told me that Lea would come to Rome, too.  

Si rattristava pensando a quello che le avevano detto.  
She got sad when she thought about what they said to her.    

Dire Conjugation – Passato Remoto 

Io dissi 
Tu dicesti 
Lui / Lei disse 
Noi dicemmo 
Voi diceste 
Loro dissero 

Let’s move now to Passato Remoto, one of the less appreciated and vanishing tenses in Italian grammar. You are required to employ it in case you wish to talk about facts that happened a long time ago.  

Examples: 

Dicesti di volerti trasferire all’estero. Perché non l’hai fatto?
You told me you wished to move abroad. Why didn’t you do that? 

Le dicemmo di rivolgersi a Maurizio in caso di necessità. 
We told her to address Maurizio if she needed to.   

Dire Conjugation – Trapassato Remoto 

Io ebbi detto 
Tu avesti detto 
Lui / Lei ebbe detto 
Noi avemmo detto 
Voi aveste detto 
Loro ebbero detto 

Before using this tense, you need to know that Trapassato Remoto has almost disappeared in the spoken language. Nowadays, you can find it only in documentaries, literature and novels. Being a compound tense, it is composed by the auxiliary (in this case to have) in the Passato Remoto and the past participle of the main verb.    

Examples: 

Dopo che gli ebbe detto che era finita, incominciò a piangere. 
After she had told him they were done, he started to cry. 

Dopo che avemmo detto a tutti quello che era successo, nessuno osò ribattere.
After we had said to everyone what had happened, no one dared to reply.  

Dire Conjugation – Futuro Semplice 

Future Tense of the verb Dire
Io dirò 
Tu dirai 
Lui / Lei dirà 
Noi diremo 
Voi direte 
Loro diranno 

On the contrary, Italian Futuro is often replaced by the present tense. Anyway, you are suggested to employ it when pointing out events that have yet to happen (Futuro Semplice) or a fact that will be finished before another one takes place (Futuro Anteriore).   

Examples: 

Se gli chiedessi di accompagnarti, sono certo che ti dirà di sì! 
If you asked him to accompany you, I’m sure he’ll tell you yes!

Credi che ti dirà la stessa cosa anche questa volta?
Do you believe she will tell you the same thing once again?  

Dire Conjugation – Futuro Anteriore 

Io avrò detto 
Tu avrai detto 
Lui / Lei avrà detto 
Noi avremo detto 
Voi avrete detto 
Loro avranno detto 

Examples: 

Carole e Stephan vi avranno certamente detto che si sposeranno l’anno prossimo. 
Carole and Stephan definitely told you they are getting married next year. 

Ti avrà detto del suo nuovo vicino di casa, no?  
He must have talked to you about his new neighbor, right?

As you can notice, in the second example dire has been used in the place of the verb to talk. This mostly happens on informal occasions.    

Dire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Presente 

Similarly, Italians avoid employing Congiuntivo in favor of the present and past tenses of the indicative mood. This happens because its formation is quite complex. In addition, its use is less and less frequent, especially among youngsters. However, it still appears in the written language (chiefly in formal contexts) and the educational field. Furthermore, its main feature is the conjunction che preceding the conjugated verb.

Che io dica 
Che tu dica 
Che lui / lei dica 
Che noi diciamo 
Che voi diciate 
Che loro dicano 

Examples: 

Vuole che tu gli dica chi verrà alla festa di Christopher. 
He wants you to tell him who is coming to Christopher’s party.  

Spero che ci dicano dove andranno questo weekend.
I hope they will tell us where they are going this weekend.  

Dire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Passato 

Congiuntivo Passato of the verb Dire
Che io abbia detto 
Che tu abbia detto 
Che lui / lei abbia detto 
Che noi abbiamo detto 
Che voi abbiate detto 
Che loro abbiano detto 

Examples: 

Penso che abbia detto di non voler essere disturbata. 
I think she said she didn’t want to be bothered. 

Dubito seriamente che glielo abbiano detto. 
I seriously doubt that they said it to him.  

Dire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Imperfetto

Che io dicessi 
Che tu dicessi 
Che lui / lei dicesse 
Che noi dicessimo 
Che voi diceste 
Che loro dicessero 

Examples:

E se ti dicessi che ieri sono uscito con la tua ex?
What if I tell you yesterday I hung out with your ex?    

Speravo che ce lo dicessero i nostri amici, non i nostri genitori!
I hoped that our friends told it to us, not our parents!   

Dire Conjugation – Congiuntivo Trapassato

Che io avessi detto 
Che tu avessi detto 
Che lui / lei avesse detto 
Che noi avessimo detto 
Che voi aveste detto 
Che loro avessero detto 

Examples: 

Mi pareva che avesse detto di essere nato in Australia.
It seems to me that he said he was born in Australia.   

Pensavo che avessero detto che sarebbero passati più tardi.
I thought they had said that they would come over later.  

Dire Conjugation – Condizionale Presente 

Speaking about Italian Condizionale, you are suggested to apply it when expressing wishes, intentions, and polite requests. In most cases, you can employ it in combination with Congiuntivo to build hypothetical sentences.    

Io direi 
Tu diresti 
Lui / Lei direbbe 
Noi diremmo 
Voi direste 
Loro direbbero 

Examples: 

Cosa direbbe se sapesse che in questo momento sei qui con me?
What would he say if he knew that you are here with me now?  

Direi che Cristina è la persona più adatta a ricoprire questo ruolo.
I would say that Cristina is the right person to cover this role.   

Dire Conjugation – Condizionale Passato 

Dire Conjugation - Condizionale Passato
Io avrei detto 
Tu avresti detto 
Lui / Lei avrebbe detto 
Noi avremmo detto 
Voi avreste detto 
Loro avrebbero detto 

Examples: 

Mi hai promesso che lo avresti detto prima a noi, poi agli altri!
You promised me you would mention it to us first, then to the others! 

Se non vi avesse invitato al suo addio al celibato, che cosa avreste detto?
If he hadn’t invited you to his bachelor party, what would you have told? 

Dire Conjugation – Imperativo

In case you want to give orders, instructions, suggestions, or advice to someone, you are called to apply Imperativo. Since dire doesn’t follow the general rules of conjugation, you need to resort to its forms.  

Dì (tu)
Dica (Lei) 
Diciamo (Noi)
Dite (Voi)
Dicano (Loro) 

Examples: 

Dì quello che devi dire e poi vai via! 
Just say what you have to say and then leave! 

Dica quello che Le pare! Non posso farla accomodare comunque!
She can say whatever she wants! I can’t make her sit by the  way! 

Remember that you need a further –m / –c when employing the indirect object pronouns mi / ci at the second person singular.  

Examples: 

Dimmi che mi amerei per sempre e che non mi tradirai mai. 
Tell me you will always love me and you will never cheat on me. 

Dicci che andrà tutto bene e che staremo meglio.
Tell us that it will be ok and we’ll be better off.  

Dire Conjugation – Infinito 

Present tense Past tense 
Dire Aver detto 

Examples: 

Un antico proverbio recita: “tra il dire e il fare c’è di mezzo il mare”. 
As an old saying goes: “easier said than done”. 

Dopo averle detto come stavano realmente le cose, sorrise.
After telling her how things really were, she smiled. 

Dire Conjugation – Participio 

Present tense Past tense 
Dicente Detto 

Examples: 

Chi è il prete dicente messa stamattina? 
Who’s the priest officiating at mass this morning? 

Detto ciò, possiamo andare a dormire e riparlarne domani. 
After saying that, we can go to sleep and talk about it again tomorrow. 

Note that the form dicente is quite obsolete.

Anyway, it is mainly employed in very formal contexts. If not necessary, you better not use it! 

Dire Conjugation – Gerundio 

Finally, we can find Gerundio, another tense you don’t use in Italian very often. Generally, it occurs in sentences in the present progressive.  

Present tense Past tense 
Dicendo Avendo detto 

Examples: 

Ma che cosa stai dicendo? Sei matto?
What are you saying? Are you insane? 

Avendo detto a Piero che sto male, è passato a trovarmi. 
Having told Piero I’m sick, he came to visit me. 

Now that you are able to conjugate and use dire properly, dimmi qualcosa and let’s start talking to each other!