Sure, studying Italian through books is excellent, but sometimes you miss something – real-life language!

And fluency will come to you, even more, when you can speak more conversationally – when you know some Italian slang. In real life, people don’t talk like they do in language books or listening exercises.

Learning some Italian slang words and phrases will certainly help you if you’re planning to go to Italy, and it’ll help you sound more authentic to your Italian friends.

In this article, we’ll learn the meaning and pronunciation of some of the most common Italian slang terms so that you can really sound like a local.

Italian slang words

Word	Pronunciation	English meaning
boh	boh	I don’t know
figo	fee-goh	Cool
dai	dah-eeh	Come on
magari	mah-gah-ree	I wish / perhaps
tranqui	trahn-kwee	Short for “tranquillo/a”, calm, tranquil. Meaning “don’t worry”.
sciallo	shah-loh	Calm, relaxed
sciallarsi	shahl-lahr-see	To relax
mitico	mee-tee-coh	Great
una cifra	ooh-nah chee-frah	A lot
un botto	oon boh-toh	A lot
figurati	fee-goo-rah-tee	Don’t mention it
una paglia / una paia	ooh-nah pah-lliah	A cigarette
fes	fehs	Only in Lombardy: a lot
coatto	coh-ah-toh	In Rome: rough
bordello	bohr-dell-oh	Mess
ferro	feh-roh	Gun
sfigato	sfee-gah-toh	Loser
sbirro	sbee-roh	Cop

Italian slang phrases

Positive phrases

Here are some slang expressions you can use when you’re in a good mood!

Phrase	Pronunciation	English meaning
Che figata!	keh fee-gah-tah	How cool!
essere in canna	eh-seh-reh een cah-nah	To be full of energy
essere gasato	eh-seh-reh gah-sah-toh	To be excited
meno male!	meh-noh mah-leh	How lucky!
Bella lì!	bell-lah lee	Sweet!
Bella storia!	bell-lah stoh-ryah	Way to go! / Cool!
Che top!	keh top	Super
avoglia	ah-voh-lya	Sure / of course / yes
a fagiolo	ah fah-joh-loh	Just right
bon / va bon	bon / vah bon	Ok
amouninn’	ah-moo-neenn	In Sicily: “Let’s go”
‘ndom	ndom	In Northern Italy: “Let’s go”
fare un after	fah-reh oon ah-ftehr	To stay up until the morning
sbronzarsi	sbrohn-dzar-see	To get drunk
cazzeggiare	cats-eh-jah-reh	To do nothing / waste time
spaccare	spah-kah-reh	To be cool
avere culo	ah-veh-reh coo-loh	To be lucky

Italian expressions for when you’re not in the best mood

And these are for when you’re not in the mood… In those cases especially, conventional language is never enough!

Phrase	Pronunciation	English meaning
Che palle!	keh pah-leh	How annoying!
avere le palle girate	ah-veh-reh leh pah-leh jee-rah-teh	To be annoyed / angry
sclerare	scleh-rah-reh	To go crazy
sbroccare	sbroh-kah-reh	To go crazy
svalvolare	svahl-voh-lah-reh	To go crazy
gufare	goo-fah-reh	To bring bad luck
farsi le pare	far-see leh pah-reh	To get paranoid
Che schifo!	keh skee-foh	Disgusting!
Fa cagare!	fah cah-gah-reh	It’s disgusting (literally: It makes you poo)
Che menata!	keh meh-nah-tah	What a drag!
stare addosso	stah-reh ah-doss-soh	To badger someone
Ci fai o ci sei?	chee fah-y oh chee-seh-y	Are you stupid or what?
essere fuori	eh-seh-reh foo-oh-ree	To be crazy (lit. to be out)
fuori come un balcone	foo-oh-ree coh-meh oon bahl-coh-neh	Crazy (lit. out as a balcony)
Non esiste!	non eh-see-steh	No way!
non me ne frega niente	non meh neh freh-gah nee-ehn-teh	I don’t care at all
tirare un bidone / bidonare	tee-rah-reh oon bee-doh-neh / bee-doh-nah-reh	To stand someone up
intortare	een-tohr-tah-reh	Northern Italy: to fool someone
palloso	pahl-loh-soh	Boring
toppare	top-pah-reh	To make a mistake
essere scazzato	eh-seh-reh ska-tsah-toh	To not be in the mood for anything
incazzarsi	een-cah-tsar-see	To get angry
essere pesante	eh-seh-reh peh-sahn-teh	To be heavy / oppressive
avere il muso	Ah-veh-reh eel moo-soh	To be in a bad mood / sulking
rompipalle	rom-pee pahl-leh	An annoying person

Italian internet slang

The internet often has its own language, and it’s the same in Italy… The only odd thing here is that most Italian Internet slang actually comes from the English language. Look at the words in the table below, they are Italianized English words.

Careful though, you need to pronounce them with an Italian accent, otherwise people won’t understand you.

Internet slang	Italian pronunciation	English meaning
bannare	bah-nah-reh	To ban
taggare	tahg-gah-reh	To tag
killare	keel-lah-re	To kill
chattare	chah-tah-reh	To chat
stalkerare	stol-keh-rah-reh	To stalk
whatsappare	woh-tsah-pah-re	To WhatsApp
trollare	troh-lah-re	To troll
nerd	nehrd	Nerd
googleare	goo-goh-lah-reh	To Google

Italian slang for money

Every language has its own slang for money. Check out these expressions you can use to talk about your finances.

Italian	Pronunciation	English meaning
La grana	lah grah-nah	Money
Il grano	eel grah-noh	Money
La pila	lah pee-lah	Money
Le palanche	leh pah-lahn-keh	Money
Un deca	oon de-ka	10 Euros
Un ventino	oon ven-ti-no	20 Euros
Un cinquantino	oon chin-kwan-ti-no	50 Euros
Una centa	oo-nah chen-tah	100 Euros
Costare un botto	cos-tah-reh oon bot-toh	To be expensive

Italian slang for friend

Let’s now see some expressions you can use to talk with or about your friends. These can vary a lot according to the region you’re in.

Here we tried to keep it simple, most words are understood everywhere in Italy.

Word	Pronunciation	English meaning
vecchio / vecchia	veh-kyo / veh-kya	Friend
vecio / vecia	veh-choh / veh-cha	Friend
socio	soh-choh	Friend
bro	broh	Brother
raga’	rah-gah	Rome: Guys
compa	com-pah	Company
guaglió	wa-lyoh	Southern Italy: Guy
gnaro	nyah-roh	Northern Italy: Guy
pivello	pee-vehl-loh	Inexperienced kid
bocia	boh-cha	Kid
friendzonare	fren-dzoh-nah-reh	To friendzone
beccarsi	beh-car-see	To meet up
fare bordello	fah-re bohr-dell-loh	To make a mess / party
drinkare	dreen-kah-reh	To drink

More FAQs

Here are some more phrases you might find useful… Even just to better understand everyday conversation.

How do you say “how are you” informally in Italian?

Italian	Pronunciation	English meaning
Come va?	coh-meh vah	How’s it going?
Come va la vita?	coh-meh vah lah vee-tah	How’s life?
Come te la passi?	coh-meh teh lah pah-see	How do you do?
Com’è?	coh-mèh	How are things?
Cosa mi racconti?	coh-sah mee rah-con-tee	What’s up?
Che si dice?	keh see dee-cheh	What’s up?
Come butta?	coh-meh boo-tah	What’s up?
Tutto a posto?	too-to ah poh-stoh	Everything alright?

What is some Italian slang for dating?

Word	Pronunciation	English meaning
un figo / una figa	Oon fee-goh / oonah fee-gah	A hot guy / girl
una gnocca	Ooh-nah ñoh-kah	A beautiful girl
limonare	lee-moh-nah-reh	To give a French kiss
trombare	trom-bah-reh	To have sex
scopare	scoh-pah-reh	To have sex
snobbare	snob-bah-reh	To snob someone
ghostare	gos-tah-reh	To ghost someone
lovvare	lov-vah-reh	To love
amo’	ah-moh	Short for “amore”: like calling someone ‘love’
inciucio	een-choo-choh	Affair / secret involvement
tramino	trah-mee-noh	Relationship / secret involvement
fare le corna	fah-reh leh cor-nah	To cheat on someone

What are some other fun general Italian expressions?

Cavoli!

Funnily enough, we have a lot of Italian expressions that have to do with cabbages… Cavoli!

Slang	Pronunciation	English meaning
Cavolo / cavoli!	cah-voh-loh	Crap!
Cavoli miei	cah-voh-lee mee-eh-y	My own business
Col cavolo!	cohl cah-voh-loh	No way!
cavoli amari	cah-vo-lee ah-mah-ree	Problems
del cavolo	dell cah-voh-loh	Not good
come il cavolo a merenda	coh-meh eel cah-voh-loh ah meh-rehn-dah	Not related at all
un cavolo	oon cah-voh-loh	Nothing
incavolarsi	een-cah-voh-lahr-see	To get angry

Slang for telling someone to sod off without being too rude

Well, hopefully you won’t need to use these. But they are always useful!

Slang	Pronunciation	English meaning
Vai a quel paese!	vah-y ah kweh-l pah-eh-seh	Bugger off (Literally: Go to that country)
Vai a farti friggere!	vah-y ah far-tee free-jeh-reh	Bugger off (Literally: Go get fried)
Vai a farti benedire!	vah-y ah far-tee beh-neh-dee-reh	Bugger off (Literally: Go get blessed)
Chissenefrega!	kees-seh-neh-freh-gah	Who cares!
Stammi giù di dosso!	Stah-mee joo dee doh-soh	Leave me alone!
Mollami!	moh-lah-mee	Leave me alone!
Fatti i cavoli tuoi!	fah-tee ee cah-voh-lee too-oh-ee	Mind your own business!
Rimbambito!	reem-bahm-bee-toh	Stupid!