What does cuidado in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word cuidado in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use cuidado in Spanish.

The word cuidado in Spanish means care, care, Watch out!, Look out!, keep an eye on, take care of, look after, pay attention to, look after yourself, look after yourself, live it up, under the care of, in the care of, carefully, painstakingly, gently, delicately, be careful with, household chores, personal care, dangerous, leave in charge of, be careful, be careful, watch out for, be careful about, be careful of, not be able to care less. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word cuidado

care

nombre masculino (atención, esmero) (attention, focus)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Resuelvan los problemas del examen con mucho cuidado.
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. Melissa obviously puts a lot of care into her appearance.

care

nombre masculino (de personas) (helping, taking responsibility for)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Un enfermero profesional se encarga del cuidado de los pacientes.
A professional nurse is in charge of patient care.

Watch out!, Look out!

interjección (avisa peligro) (imminent danger)

(interjection: Exclamation--for example, "Oh no!" "Wow!")
¡Cuidado! ¡Ahí viene un carro!
Watch out! (or: Look out!) There's a car coming!

keep an eye on

verbo transitivo (vigilar con atención)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Los guardas cuidan la entrada del museo.
The guards keep an eye on the museum entrance.

take care of

verbo transitivo (ocuparse de, atender)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Mi mamá cuida a mi hijo cuando estoy ocupada. Vamos a contratar a alguien para que cuide el jardín.
My mother takes care of my son when I'm busy.

look after

(guardar, atender)

(phrasal verb, transitive, inseparable: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning, not divisible--for example,"go with" [=combine nicely]: "Those red shoes don't go with my dress." NOT [S]"Those red shoes don't go my dress with."[/S])
La enfermera cuida de los enfermos. Mi hermana cuida de la casa cuando mis padres no están.
My sister looks after the house when my parents are away.

pay attention to

verbo transitivo (poner atención a)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
La pintora cuida cada detalle de su obra.
The painter pays attention to every aspect of his work.

look after yourself

verbo pronominal (velar por la salud)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Si no te cuidas acabarás enfermo.
If you don't look after yourself you'll end up ill.

look after yourself

verbo pronominal (cuidar propia salud)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Debes cuidarte: deja de fumar, come mejor y haz ejercicio.
You should look after yourself: give up smoking, eat more healthily and get some exercise.

live it up

verbo pronominal (darse buena vida)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
¡Juan sí que sabe cuidarse! ¡No se priva de nada!
John really knows how to live it up; he never denies himself anything!

under the care of, in the care of

locución preposicional (a cargo de)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Dejamos los niños al cuidado de su abuela. Mientras estuve de viaje, mis gatos estuvieron al cuidado de mi vecina.
We left the children in the care of (or: under the care of) their grandmother.

carefully, painstakingly

locución adverbial (con atención)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Hay que leer las instrucciones con cuidado para aprender a usar el aparato.
You have to read the instructions carefully in order to learn to use the device.

gently, delicately

locución adverbial (delicadamente)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Si no manipulas la masa con cuidado, echarás a perder el pan.
If you do not handle the dough gently, you will ruin the bread.

be careful with

(precaución, cautela)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. Be careful with the saw; it could cut you badly.

household chores

(quehaceres domésticos)

(plural noun: Noun always used in plural form--for example, "jeans," "scissors.")
Todos tenemos que hacernos cargo del cuidado de la casa.
All of us are responsible for household chores.

personal care

(aseo, higiene)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Se requiere buen cuidado personal para el trabajo de azafata.
Working as a stewardess requires great personal care.

dangerous

locución adjetiva (persona: peligrosa)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
El señor López es un hombre de cuidado: no conviene meterse con él.
Mr Lopez is a dangerous person: he is not to be messed with.

leave in charge of

locución verbal (dejar a cargo)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
La madre dejó a los niños al cuidado de una escuela.

be careful

locución verbal (ser precavido)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Ten cuidado cuando salgas a la calle en la noche.
Be careful when you go out at night.

be careful

locución verbal (prestar atención)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Si no tienes cuidado al llenar el formulario, puedes cometer errores.
If you're not careful when you fill out the form you could make a mistake.

watch out for

locución verbal (advertencia)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Ten cuidado con los carteristas en el metro, siempre se aprovechan de las aglomeraciones.
Watch out for pickpockets on the subway; they always take advantage of crowds.

be careful about, be careful of

locución verbal (advertencia)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Ten cuidado de no pisar el césped, te ponen una multa.
Be careful not to step on the grass; they'll fine you.

not be able to care less

locución verbal (coloquial (sin importancia)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Me tendría sin cuidado que las cucarachas se extinguieran.
I couldn't care less if cockroaches were extinct.

Let's learn Spanish

So now that you know more about the meaning of cuidado in Spanish, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Spanish.

Related words of cuidado

Do you know about Spanish

Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.