Portuguese · Emotions & Descriptions

"Ugly" in Portuguese: feio/a

feio/a

Say it: FAY-oo / FAY-ahadjective/ˈfej.u/, /ˈfej.a/

Ugly in Portuguese is feio for masculine and feia for feminine. Brazilians often soften criticism with estranho or não é bonito instead of blunt feio.

Weather rant

Que dia feio de chuva cinza.
What an ugly gray rainy day.
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How to pronounce feio/a

Say it

FAY-oo / FAY-ah

/ˈfej.u/, /ˈfej.a/

FAY-oo / FAY-ah

"Ugly" in Portuguese: quick reference

PortugueseEnglish
feio / feiaugly

Direct adjective.

mais feiouglier

Comparison.

fica feioit looks bad / ugly

Style or manners.

não é bonitoit's not nice/pretty

Softer alternative.

How to use feio/a in real life

  1. 1Weather rant

    Que dia feio de chuva cinza.

    What an ugly gray rainy day.

    Feio for weather vibes.

  2. 2Design opinion

    Esse cartaz ficou feio demais.

    That poster turned out too ugly.

    Ficou feio = ended up ugly.

  3. 3Soft manners note

    Fica feio chegar atrasado na entrevista.

    It looks bad to arrive late to the interview.

    Fica feio for social judgment.

Mistakes English speakers make with feio/a

Incorrect: A casa é feio.

Correct: A casa é feia.

Feminine noun → feia.

Incorrect: Ele é ugly.

Correct: Ele é feio.

Use feio.

Good to know

Calling a person feio can sting. Friends joke with it, but with strangers prefer softer phrasing. Fica feio is useful for manners without attacking looks.

Try it in a ChatPal conversation

Critiquing a draft poster kindly

  1. ChatPal

    Acho a fonte um pouco feia neste tamanho.

    I think the font is a bit ugly at this size.

  2. You

    Concordo. O fundo também ficou feio.

    Agreed. The background also turned out ugly.

  3. ChatPal

    Vamos trocar antes que fique mais feio.

    Let's change it before it gets uglier.

  4. You

    Sim. Feio assim não vai para o cliente.

    Yes. Ugly like this won't go to the client.

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"Ugly" in other languages

FAQ

Common questions about "Ugly" in Portuguese

Ugly?

Feio / feia.

Gender?

Match the noun: feio/feia.

Softer phrase?

Não é bonito / estranho.

Looks bad (manners)?

Fica feio…

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