What does onda in Spanish mean?

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

The word onda in Spanish means wave, wave, wave, cool, great, get it, nice, cool, get it, catch on, infect others with your enthusiasm, be on the same page, be on the same wavelength, be up-to-date, be current with, out of touch, lose your train of thought, forget, forget, wavelength, bad luck, mean, nasty, brain wave, short wave, shortwave, tropical storm, sound wave, What's up?, surprise, bewilder, confuse. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word onda

wave

nombre femenino (líquido: círculo concéntrico)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Cada onda en la superficie del agua la produce el viento o alguna perturbación de otro tipo.
Every wave on the surface of the water is produced by the wind or some other kind of disturbance.

wave

nombre femenino (vibración en un medio)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Una onda de radio tiene una longitud de onda mayor que la luz visible.
Radio waves are longer than those of visible light.

wave

nombre femenino (cabello, tela: en curvas)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Se peina con una onda en el flequillo.
When she does her hair, she puts a wave in her bangs.

cool, great

nombre femenino (MX, coloquial (actitud, forma de actuar) (positive)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Tu mamá es muy buena onda, siempre te apoya y escucha tus problemas.
Your mom is really cool: she always supports you and listens to your troubles.

get it

locución verbal (coloquial (captar el sentido)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Gabriel tiene un humor muy particular y sólo es gracioso cuando le agarras la onda.
Gabriel has a very particular sense of humour and it's only funny when you get it.

nice, cool

locución nominal femenina (MX, AR, coloquial (aprobación, agrado)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
La nueva jefa es muy buena onda, por suerte.
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. This place has a really good vibe; we should eat here more often.

get it, catch on

locución verbal (coloquial (percatarse, entender) (colloquial)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
-¿Ves cómo se hace? -Ya capto la onda.

infect others with your enthusiasm

locución verbal (transmitir alegría)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Mariana es muy divertida y les contagia a otros el buen ánimo en la oficina.

be on the same page

locución verbal (coloquial (asunto: pensar igual)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Todos están en la misma onda con el director excepto yo.

be on the same wavelength

locución verbal (coloquial (gustos: ser afines)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Paola y yo estamos en la misma onda; vamos a vivir juntas.

be up-to-date

locución verbal (coloquial (tendencia: estar al día)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Tengo un papá moderno que está en la onda con la tecnología.

be current with

locución verbal (coloquial (asunto: estar al tanto)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Yo no sé. Pregúntale a Lina que ella está en la onda.

out of touch

locución adverbial (coloquial (sin información actual)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Los jóvenes se burlan de sus padres porque siempre están fuera de onda en temas de tecnología.
Youngsters make fun of their parents because they're always out of touch with technology

lose your train of thought

locución verbal (coloquial (perder el hilo) (forget)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
A Pedro se le fue la onda y nadie entendía de qué hablaba.
Pedro lost his train of thought and nobody could understand what he was saying.

forget

locución verbal (AmL, coloquial (olvidar lo que se diría)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Te iba a contar algo de tu prima pero se me fue la onda.
I was going to tell you something about your cousin but I forgot.

forget

locución verbal (olvidar lo que se haría)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Se te va la onda muy seguido, ¿no tendrás Alzheimer?

wavelength

nombre femenino (distancia entre 2 puntos)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
La longitud de onda es la distancia entre dos crestas o valles.
The wavelength is the distance from crest to trough.

bad luck

locución nominal femenina (mala suerte)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Qué mala onda, ¡perdimos el tren!
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. This place has a bad vibe.

mean, nasty

(mala predisposición)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Juan tiene muy mala onda, nunca más le pido un favor.
Juan is really mean, I'll never ask him any favors again.

brain wave

(actividad eléctrica cerebral)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

short wave, shortwave

(frecuencia de radio)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

tropical storm

(meteorología: perturbación)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Las autoridades emitieron una alerta debido a la cercanía de una onda tropical.

sound wave

locución nominal femenina (onda transmisora de sonido)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

What's up?

locución interjectiva (MX: coloquial (saludo informal)

(interjection: Exclamation--for example, "Oh no!" "Wow!")
¡Qué onda! ¿A qué se debe el milagro de tu visita?
What's up? What brings you here today?

surprise, bewilder, confuse

locución verbal (MX: coloquial (confundir, despistar, destantear)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Me sacas de onda con tus comentarios fuera de lugar.
You confuse me with your inappropriate remarks.

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So now that you know more about the meaning of onda 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.

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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.