How to Express Annoyance and Indignation in Spanish
Want to know how to express annoyance and indignation in Spanish? Click here to learn useful words and phrases.
¡Ay, caramba! You may have heard this phrase before, but do you know what it means? In this article, we’ll show you this and lots of other ways of expressing annoyance and indignation in Spanish.
NOTE: this article contains language that may offend, and extremely strong language in the final section. Please do not read that section if you are a minor.
Adjectives
There are lots of adjectives to describe something annoying or frustrating. Some work better with things, and some work better with people, as you can see in the examples below. Remember, some will need to agree in number and gender. We’ve identified the ones that change with gender. Add -s to adjectives ending in a vowel, and -es to those ending in -r, to make them plural: for example, molestas and desalentadores.
- Irritante (thing)
Linked to the verb “irritar” (“to irritate”).
- Fastidioso/a (thing)
Linked to the verb “fastidiar” (“to annoy,” “to bother”).
- Frustrante (thing)
Linked to the verb “frustrar” (“to frustrate”).
- Desalentador(a) (thing)
Linked to the verb “desalentar” (“to discourage”).
- Molesto/a (thing or person)
Linked to the verb “molestar” (“to annoy,” “to bother”).
- molesto/aannoying, irritating
- Mi novio fuma, pero yo creo que el olor del humo es molesto.My boyfriend smokes, but I think the smell of smoke is bothersome.
- Mi hermano es una persona molesta. Por ejemplo, le gusta provocarme con comentarios políticos que sabe que me molestan.My brother is an annoying person. For example, he likes provoking me with political comments that he knows bother me.
- Insufrible (person)
Linked to the verb “sufrir” (“to suffer”).
- Inaguantable (person)
Linked to the verb “aguantar” (“to put up with,” “to tolerate”).
- Insoportable (person)
Linked to the verb “soportar” (“to bear,” “to put up with”).
- Pesado/a (person)
Set phrases
Set phrases
Next, we’ll look at some set phrases which you can use when you’re annoyed or indignant about something.
Estar harto/a
Estar hasta las narices
Estar hasta los huevos/los cojones
Estar indignado/a
Estar ofendido/a
No te concierne
—¡Vete ya! Esto no te concierne.
“Get out of here! This doesn’t concern you.”
¡No me estás escuchando!
—¡Ven, no estés estúpida, no te hará daño!
—¡No me estás escuchando! Es que tengo una fobia severa.
“Come on, don’t be stupid, he won’t hurt you!”
“You’re not listening to me! I have a severe phobia.”
¡Ya vale!
Me da igual
Although this phrase means that you don’t care, it can be said in a sarcastic and indignant way, showing that actually you are upset.
—No. La vida de Julián me da igual ya.
“No. I don’t care about Julián’s life anymore.”
No me lo puedo creer
¡Para!
—¡Para ya!
—Estoy de bromas.
—No hace gracia. Hiere. Así que para.
—Lo siento.
“Stop already!”
“I’m kidding.”
“It’s not funny. It’s hurtful. So stop it.”
“I’m sorry.”
Deja de …
¡Por fin!
No es justo
No puedo …
- No puedo con …I can’t deal with …
- No puedo más.I can’t even.
- No puedo con su actitud.I can’t deal with her attitude.
- —Los médicos se equivocaron otra vez.
—Hombre, son tan incompetentes, no puedo más.“The doctors got it wrong again.”
“Dude, they’re so incompetent, I can’t even deal with it.”
Me fastidia
Me molesta
Me da rabia
Estoy enfadado/a (Spain), enojado/a (Latin America)
Interjections: sounds
Let’s look at interjections. Quite often, these are sounds.
¡Ay!
- ¡Ay!Ah!
- ¡Ay! ¡Acaba de picarme una avispa!Ah! A wasp just stung me!
- ¡Ay, caramba!Oh, for crying out loud!
¡Pf!
- ¡Pf!Pff. (general sound of exasperation)
¡Uy!
Interjections: curse words
Sometimes instead of a wordless sound, an angry phrase might creep out of your mouth. We’ll have a look at some of them here.
¡¿Qué?!
—¡¿Qué?!
“What?!”
¡¿Qué demonios?!
¡Cállate!
—Cállate. Eres una reina.
“Shut up. You’re a queen.”
¡Qué rollo!
¡Madre mía!
WARNING: This final section contains extremely offensive language. Please do not read on if you are a minor.
Right, let’s get to the rude stuff.
Joder
You might hear children try to get away with cursing by using these versions:
- ¡Jo!Oh, man!
- Jo, mira qué bonitas están las estrellas.Oh, man, look how pretty the stars look.
- ¡Jolín!Flip!
- ¡Jolines!Flip!
Mierda
- ¡Mierda!Shit! / Crap!
- ¡Mierda! Está roto.Shit! It’s broken.
- ¡Vete a la mierda!Go fuck yourself! (Literally: go to the shit)
Hostia
And now the PG version:
- ¡Ostras!Woah! (Literally: oysters)
Me cago en …
These are expressions of general annoyance and anger. Some of them are direct insults to a person, some of them aren’t. We’ve given you the literal translations, but when these phrases are said in Spanish, they’re more expressive rather than taken literally.
- Me cago en la leche.I shit in the milk.
- Me cago en tu puta madre.I shit on your fucking mother.
- Me cago en tus muertos.I shit on your dead relatives.
Remember, Spanish speakers aren’t literally pooping on these things (luckily).
Coño
- CoñoFuck! / Holy crap! (Literally: c*nt)
A really interesting thing about the word “coño” is that when it’s used in Spain, it’s nowhere near as strong as the c-bomb in English. It can be heard used around children, because the connotation is simply not as strong as it is in English.
- ¡¿Coño, qué dices?!What the fuck are you saying?
- ¡¿Coño, qué haces?!For Christ’s sake, what are you doing?
- ¿Qué coño es esto?What on Earth is this?
… and, breathe out!
Right, after all that annoyance and indignation, let’s take some time to breathe. These words can be useful but don’t go chasing confrontation!
