Portuguese Swear Words: Common Curses, Meanings & When to Use Them

Swearing is a natural part of any language, and Portuguese swear words are no exception! Whether you want to express frustration, joke around with friends, or simply understand native speakers better, learning Portuguese curse words can enhance your fluency.

In this guide, you’ll discover the most common Portuguese insults and bad words, their meanings, and how they’re actually used in everyday speech. Contrary to what you might think, strong language isn’t always offensive—it can be a way to bond with locals, add emphasis to conversations, or even make jokes more relatable.

But before you start throwing around Portuguese bad words, it’s essential to understand when and how to swear appropriately without offending anyone. Let’s dive into some of the strongest expressions people use when venting frustration:

Not all swear words are created equal, and they aren’t just used in anger. Let’s explore how Portuguese strong language works and when it can actually be funny, expressive, or even endearing. Keep reading!

Why do we swear?

Swearing is often seen as rude and associated with the uneducated or those on the fringes of society. But the truth is, strong language is used across all social classes—and for good reason.

Cursing is undeniably cathartic, providing a release for emotions that might otherwise fester. In this way, it acts as a buffer against escalating anger, possibly even preventing physical confrontations.

But swearing isn’t just about venting frustration. It plays a role in humor and storytelling, adding emphasis and color to conversations. It also makes sex talk sound more natural, reducing awkwardness.

Perhaps most importantly, swear words express intense positive emotions. That’s why we say things like, “Man, that was fucking good!”—because sometimes, “Awesome!” just doesn’t cut it.

Now that we understand the function of swearing, let’s explore the benefits of learning Portuguese bad words.

Annoyance and anger

Strong language is cathartic and enables emotional release. People are likely to use it when, for instance, they get irritated or angry at something or someone. Here are a few Portuguese swear words that serve that purpose.

Swear word	Grade
Caraças	mild	A milder version of Caralho, equivalent to Damn!
Caralho	rough	A Portuguese equivalent to the f-word.
Foda-se	rough	As rough as Caralho! Both can be used interchangeably.
Merda	vulgar	Literally Shit! Also common to hear Deixa-te de merdas! as in Cut the crap!
Poça	mild	Short for Raios te partam! which translates to May the rays break you in two!
Porra	vulgar	A milder version of Caralho! or Foda-se!
Puta que pariu	rough	The whore that gave birth … Can be used interchangeably with Caralho!
Raisparta	mild	Short for Raios te partam! which literally translates to May the rays break you in two!

You can make these expressions sound more colloquial by adding que before and pá after them. While pá works with all of them, que only fits some. It’s also common to combine different swear words for extra emphasis:

• que merda pá!
• que caraças!
• porra pá!
• que caralho!
• puta que pariu pá!
• foda-se pá!
• raisparta pá!
• foda-se, puta que pariu!
• porra caralho!
• . . .

Excitement and joy

You will recognize some of the following words from the list above. Just by changing intonation, the same word can go from expressing anger to becoming an exclamation of surprise and astonishment.

Swear word	Grade
Caraças	mild	As in Holy cow!
Caralho	rough	As in Fuck!
Foda-se	rough	Used interchangeably with Caralho! Also common to say the short version: dass!
Jesus	mild	As in Jeez!
Meu deus	mild	As in Gosh!
Nossa senhora	mild	Literally Our lady!
Que puta	rough	Used interchangeably with Caralho! or Foda-se!

Meant to offend 

There are plenty of ways to insult someone in Portuguese, ranging from general offenses to more specific ones, including racist, misogynistic, or homophobic slurs.

Milder

Many of the words below have English cognates like stupid, idiot, and imbecile. While they can be used as insults, they’re often thrown around jokingly among friends.

Swear word
Cabrão	It literally means billy goat. Comparable to Bastard!
Corno	It literally means horn. It’s often used to humiliate men by implying they’ve been cheated on by their wives. men by suggesting they are cheated upon by their wives.
Estúpido	It literally means stupid as in You stupid!
Filho da mãe	It literally means son of a mother
Idiota	It literally means idiot as in You idiot!
Imbecil	It literally means imbecile. Comparable to Asshole!
Palerma	Comparable to What a jerk!
Paneleiro	Used disparagingly against gay men. Comparable to Faggot!
Sacana	Comparable to Bastard!

Rougher

Swear word
Filho da puta	Equivalent to Son of a bitch!
Monte de merda	Comparable to You piece of shit!
Porco(a)	It literally means pig. When used against men, it suggests someone is sloppy or untidy. When directed at women, it carries sexual connotations, implying promiscuity.
Puta	Equivalent to Slut!
Vaca	It literally means cow and is used as an insult towards women, similar to saying You bitch! in English.
Vai apanhar no cú	Portuguese version of Up your ass!
Vai p’à puta que te pariu (vai para a puta que te pariu)	Equivalent of Go fuck yourself!
Vai p’ó caralho (vai para o caralho)	Same as above
Vai-te foder	Same as above

Dirty talk

Here are a few Portuguese naughty words commonly used in sex talk.

Portuguese swear words for masculine genitals

• caralho
• piça
• piroca
• pila
• colhões

Portuguese swear words for feminine genitals

• cona
• rata 
• pachacha 
• pito

Portuguese expressions for sexual intercourse

• foda (fuck)
• queca (fuck)
• rapidinha (quickie)  
• broche (blow job)
• minete (lick job)