We all know Spanish is one of the most difficult languages out there, but at the same time, it being spoken in more than 20 countries makes it one of the most useful to learn. And we all know each country has their own slang and accents.

Because of this, it may seem that it doesn’t matter how many years you’ve studied Spanish, there’s always a word you’ve never heard of before, and you ask yourself, “What the heck was that?”.

Have you ever found yourself fluently speaking to a native Spanish speaker, understanding everything? You think to yourself, “Yes! I finally get it all”, when out of nowhere, a wild unknown word appears and you’re left deciding whether to pretend you understood or ask them to explain what the heck they just said.

And that’s just common words, but what if they’re cursing and insulting you or someone else in the street? Surely you will know by the tone they use when speaking to you, but you want to be sure.

Even when you’re just starting to learn Spanish, you definitely don’t want to go around without knowing if someone is making fun of you or giving you a piece of their mind, right?

All countries have their own weird bad words in spanish, especially in the Dominican Republic. Dominicans are famous for making up insults that will leave you scratching your head.

But worry not! Here we’ve come to help you understand some of their slang curse words and insults with this post. Please make yourself comfortable and be prepared to learn some Dominican Slang: Insults & curse words edition.

At the very end of this blog post, you can check out the video of some of the phrases repeated by a local speaker who appears in our Gritty Spanish audio stories!

1. Mama guevo

Simply put, this means “Cock-sucker”. Most countries have their own version of this insult. In Dominican slang “Guevo” is a very colloquial way to refer to a penis, and “mama” is the conjugated form the verb “mamar”, which means “to suck”, synonym to “chupar”.

Example:

“Estoy muy triste, Karina. Descubrí que Juan me pegó los cuernos otra vez!”

“I’m so sad, Karina. I just found out that Juan cheated on me again!”

–“That Juan is nothing more than a cocksucker, I’m sick and tired of telling you to leave him!”

–“Ese Juan no es más que un mama guevo, estoy cansada de decirte que lo dejes!”



2. Cuero

If you take this word to Google translate it’ll say that it means “leather” and that’s absolutely true when speaking neutral Spanish. However, be careful when throwing this word to a Dominican girl. In their lingo, this means “Slut”, and not just a simple slut, but the sluttiest of sluts ever.

Sometimes the word is used when referring to prostitutes as well, but it’s commonly thrown as a way to insult a girl who cheats on their partner of who just sleeps around a hell of a lot.

Example:

“Esa Laura es un cuero grande, tiene dos novios, un esposo y ahí está coqueteándole al vecino” –

“That Laura girl is such slut, she has two boyfriends, a husband, and now look at her flirting with the neighbor.”

3. Amemao/Amemá

Have you ever met this person who is always in the air, lost? Like they just don’t have a clue of their surroundings? Or those who act like doormats, never able to stand up for themselves? Maybe that one who is just kind of, you know, slow. Maybe that someone is all of the above. That’s an amemao.

Example:

“No entiendo. Cada vez que llamo a Servicio al Cliente siempre me toca el representante más amemao”

“I don’t understand. Everytime I call Customer Service I always get the dumbest representative”



“Le pregunté a Clara por la clase de ayer, pero esa nunca sabe nada. Siempre está como amemá”

“I asked Clara about yesterday’s class, but she never knows what’s going on. She seems to be kind of slow.”

4. Rapa tu mai

“Rapa” is the conjugated form of the very colloquial verb “rapar” which means “to fuck”, in a sexual way. “Mai” it’s just slang for “Mother”. The “tu” is used there is the possessive adjective.

So if you ever hear someone call you a “Rapa tu mai” they’re basically telling you, that you fuck or like to fuck your own mother. Harsh, right? This phrase can actually be used with other family members as well if you wish!

Example:



“50 pesos por una sola foto? Eres un ladrón, ¡rapa tu mai!”

“50 pesos for only one picture? You’re a thief, you motherfucker!”

5. Azaroso

An Azaroso can be described as a hater, but not quite. Someone who “azara” you, which comes from the verb “azarar”, is a person who is there to only ruin your life and bring bad luck and damnation upon you and your family.

At least that’s what its original dramatic meaning is. Nowadays you’d normally call that a person who is incessantly annoying the shit out of you and whom you’d rather leave you alone forever…

Example:

“Pedro no me deja tranquilo. Se la pasa diciéndome que me voy a quemar en el examen, ese azaroso.”

“Pedro doesn’t leave me alone. He keeps on saying that I am going to fail the test, that hater.”

6. Aqueroso

Aqueroso is just a badly pronounced “Asqueroso” as in disgusting, that on itself is of course an insult, however sometimes “aqueroso” like that, without an s, can mean several things.

They might be referring to a person who not only disgusts them, but disgusts them because:

They talk too much.

They talk shit.

They don’t do what they say they would.

They like to boast about their own nonexistent grandness.

Example:

“Como te dije, mi papá tiene dos yates y me va a regalar uno pronto”

“Tú si ere aqueroso, nadie te preguntó”.

“Like I said, my dad has to yachts and he’s going to give me one soon”

“You talk a lot of shit, nobody asked you”.

7. Jablador

The word “Hablador” is someone who talks too much, or who likes to boasts, and then there’s “Jablador” who is a fucking liar. If you’re ever being called a jablador, you might have just been busted.

Example:



“Ese Carlos es un jabalador. Mira sus fotos en Facebook de ayer en la playa.”

“That Carlos guy is a liar. Go look at his pictures on Facebook from yesterday at the beach.”

8. Singa tu madre

Singa tu madre could be called a synonym for “Rapa tu mai” which we went over before. “Singa” from the colloquial verb “singar” also means “to fuck” (there’s a lot of ways to say this in Dominican Spanish).

“Tu madre” is very a correct and neutral way to say “your mother” in Spanish, so you could call this insult a more sophisticated form of the one before, right? Not really. There’s no sophisticated way to tell someone they fuck their mothers.

They could also be combined. It could be a “Singa tu mai” or a “Rapa tu madre”, FYI. Possibly one of the more crude swear words in spanish you can say.

Example:



“¡Más te vale que no vuelvas a aparecerte por aquí, ¡singa tu madre!”

“You better not come back here again, you motherfucker!”

9. Lambón/Lambona

Whether you work or study you’ve probably met this character.

The person who loves to flatter those in higher positions just gain their favor. The “ass-kissers” That’s what being a “lambón” from the colloquial verb “lamber” is.

Example:



“Ahí está María, asegurando su promoción con el jefe. Nunca había visto a una tipa tan lambona.”

“There is Maria, ensuring her promotion with the boss. I’ve never seen someone kissing ass so hard.”

10. Bajo a [insert your least favorite smell]

When you google the word “Bajo” a lot of nice basses come up. It also means “low”, and while that’s what it also means in general for Dominicans, when you smell a “bajo” you’re referring to a bad smell. If you call someone “Bajo a mierda” for example, you’re telling them they smell like shit. Basically “bajo” is slang for bad odor.

Example:



“Viejo, necesitas un baño. Tienes un bajo a podrido encima”

“Dude, you need a bath. You smell like something rotten”.

11. Hijo de la gran puta

We bet every country has their own version of this one, I mean what better way to insult someone than insulting their mothers? So yes, you might have guessed this one right: It means “Son of a bitch” or more close to “Son of a whore”.

Each Spanish speaking country has a similar way to say this one, Dominicans add the “Gran puta” part which makes the entire phrase literally mean “Son of a great whore”. That’s right! Not just a simple whore, but a great or grand.

Example:

“Le presté dinero hace 8 meses y no me ha pagado, sin embargo, ayer lo vi con un carro nuevo, ¡ese hijo de la gran puta!”

“I lent him money like 8 months ago and he hasn’t paid me yet, when yesterday I saw him with a new car, that son of a whore!”.

Want More Dominican Slang?

Be sure to check out these fun posts…

7 Super Popular Dominican Slang words That will have you talking like a true Dominicano

10 Popular Dominican Idioms

More Curse Words From The Spanish Speaking World!

Puerto Rican Curse words you should definitely know

4 Mexican Curse Words Your Granny Wouldn’t be proud of you saying

15 Curse Words Straight Outta The Gritty Streets Of Spain!

Going Be In The Streets of Cuba? Learn These Extremely Vulgar Cuban Curse Words

In Conclusion

So, there you have it. It’s highly likely we might have missed something, taking into account that Dominicans do get very creative when insulting someone else, but we do hope this list helps you. You could even get creative yourself and combine some of these words when looking to insult someone!

There’s no way to get it wrong, but take into account that if you don’t know the Dominican you insult, you will probably get your arse dragged all over the beach while sipping on your Presidente (The most popular beer in the Dominican Republic)…

But hey, at least you could say you’re on your way to master the art of Dominican slang, curse words and insults, right?

Many of the words above might also be used by some other Caribbean Spanish Speaking country like Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Ps. Don’t forget to check out Gritty Spanish, which features Dominican voice characters cursing and speaking Slang straight outta the DR!