bordello
What does “bordello” mean in English?
It refers to a chaotic situation or a complete mess. While it literally means 'brothel', it's often used to describe disarray rather than anything sexual.
Literally “brothel”
You might hear it in contexts similar to saying 'What a shitshow!' in English. It's informal and can be used to criticize a situation rather than directed at a person.
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Related Italian words
merdaio
3/5 · VulgarIt refers to a filthy mess or a disastrous situation. The literal translation is 'shit heap,' which captures the essence of something being a total wreck.
monata
3/5 · VulgarIt's a Venetian term for nonsense or a stupid act. Essentially, it implies something is ridiculous or pointless.
merdata
3/5 · VulgarIt refers to a nasty act, a mess, or something worthless. The literal translation is 'shit thing,' which captures the unpleasantness of the term.
balle
2/5 · CoarseIt refers to lies or nonsense, often used to dismiss something as untrue. The literal sense relates to 'balls', but that's not the focus here.
About this data
Swear Atlas is a source-attested, AI-curated reference — not a native-speaker-certified dictionary. Meanings and the 1–5 Burn Rating are approximate editorial assessments that vary with context, region, tone and speaker. Inclusion of a word does not constitute endorsement of its use.
The literal gloss is a short editorial translation to show word-for-word sense, not an etymological claim.
“Sounds like” is an English-friendly approximation of how the word sounds, not an authoritative pronunciation. Where shown, the romanisation is a conventional Latin-script transliteration of the original spelling.
Term attested via LDNOOBW, FlacSy/BadWords (CC-BY-4.0, MIT AND CC-BY-4.0). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.