palavrão
Portuguese, noun/pa.laˈvɾɐ̃w̃/
palavrão is spelled P-A-L-A-V-R-Ã-O (8 letters) and appears 1.8 times per million words in written Portuguese, the 23,592nd most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Palavrão is a Portuguese masculine noun meaning “curse, swear word (impolite, vulgar or offensive taboo word)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also an augmentative of palavra (“word”). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “palavra considerada obscena ou rude”.
What does palavrão mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculineaugmentative of palavra (“word”)
- 2
masculinecurse, swear word (impolite, vulgar or offensive taboo word)
Não se deve dizer palavrões.
- 3
colloquialmasculinea big and difficult to pronounce word
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
noun: 1. palavra considerada obscena ou rude 2. uma palavra grande de pronúncia difícil
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of palavrão
- palavrões plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce palavrão?
- Brazil /pa.laˈvɾɐ̃w̃/
- Brazil [pa.laˈvɾɐ̃ʊ̯̃]
- Portugal /pɐ.lɐˈvɾɐ̃w̃/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to palavrão
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is palavrão in Portuguese?
palavrão appears 1.8 times per million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).