merda
What does “merda” mean in English?
It means 'shit' and can also refer to something of poor quality. It's a direct term for excrement.
Literally “excrement”
You might hear it as an exclamation like 'Merda!' when something goes wrong, similar to saying 'Shit!' in English. It's used in both Portugal and Brazil, though the pronunciation differs slightly.
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Related Portuguese words
cagar
3/5 · VulgarIt means to shit, used in a straightforward way to refer to the act of defecating. It can also be used figuratively in various contexts.
cagada
3/5 · VulgarIt refers to a mistake, mess, or botched action. Literally, it translates to 'act of shitting.'
cagado
3/5 · VulgarIt means screwed or dirty, but can also refer to being very lucky in certain contexts. The literal translation is 'shat on.'
cagalhão
3/5 · VulgarThis is a coarse term for a large piece of shit. It's typically used to describe something particularly nasty or undesirable.
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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, 4troDev/profanity.csv, Viddexa SafeText (CC-BY-4.0, MIT). Editorial content © Swear Atlas.