cretino
What does “cretino” mean in English?
It means fool or idiot, used to insult someone's intelligence. It's a modern term that doesn't relate to any medical diagnosis.
You'd use it like calling someone a dickhead in English, typically aimed directly at someone to criticize their actions or decisions.
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Related Italian words
coglione
3/5 · VulgarThis is an insult for someone considered a fool or idiot. Literally, it translates to 'testicle,' but that's not how it's used in conversation.
balordo
2/5 · CoarseIt's an insult used to call someone a fool or a scoundrel, implying they're unreliable or not to be trusted.
pirla
2/5 · CoarseIt's an insult that means idiot or fool. It's commonly used to call someone stupid or foolish.
cazzone
3/5 · VulgarIt's a vulgar insult used to call someone a fool or idiot. Literally, it translates to 'large penis.'
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.
“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 FlacSy/BadWords (MIT AND CC-BY-4.0). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.