cutre

Spanish

Etymology

Uncertain, but most likely from kurtí (“short, small”) from Caló (a Romani-Iberian dialect), first introduced in Spanish in the 20th century as a Madrid slang.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkutɾe/ [ˈku.t̪ɾe]
  • Rhymes: -utɾe
  • Syllabification: cu‧tre

Adjective

cutre m or f (masculine and feminine plural cutres) (colloquial)

  1. (of a thing) of bad quality, poor
    Synonyms: pobre, mediocre
  2. (of a place) shabby, seedy, cheesy
    Synonyms: sucio, mugriento, abandonado, descuidado
    ¡Pero qué lugar más cutre al que me has traído!
    The place you've brought me to is so shabby!
  3. (person) stingy, small-minded, scrounger, mean
    Synonyms: mezquino, pobre de espíritu, tacaño
    Tus amigos son unos cutres. Siempre que vamos a un bar dicen que se les ha olvidado la cartera.
    Your friends are mean and stingy, every time we go out to a pub they say they have forgotten their wallet.

Further reading

  • “cutre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
  • Manuel Seco, Olimpia Andrés, Gabino Ramos (3 August 2023) “cutre”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA [BBVA Foundation]
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