What does por encima in Spanish mean?

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

The word por encima in Spanish means the top of, quick, over, freedom above all, skim, skim, look down at, above, first and foremost, give a cursory glance, give a quick look, a quick look, live beyond your means. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word por encima

the top of

locución adverbial (por la parte superior)

Por favor, limpia la nevera por encima, que está llena de polvo.
Please, clean the top of the fridge; it's covered in dust.

quick

locución adverbial (figurado (superficialmente) (superficial)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
No he hecho limpieza en profundidad, sino solo por encima.
I didn't do a deep clean. Just a quick one.

over

locución preposicional (por la parte superior de)

(preposition: Relates noun or pronoun to another element of sentence--for example, "a picture of John," "She walked from my house to yours.")
Los perros pasaron por encima de las flores y las aplastaron.
The dogs walked over the flowers and crushed them.

freedom above all

expresión (independencia ante todo)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
No le temen a la muerte, su lema es "la libertad por encima de todo".
They are not afraid of death; their motto is "freedom above all."

skim

(no profundamente)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Si solo lees el libro por encima no te enterarás de nada.
If you only skim the book you won't get anything out of it.

skim

locución verbal (someramente)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Casi no estudié, sólo miré por encima mis apuntes.

look down at

locución verbal (con desprecio)

(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])
Se cree superior a todos y nos mira por encima del hombro.
He thinks he's better than everyone and looks down at us.

above

locución adverbial (más allá de)

(preposition: Relates noun or pronoun to another element of sentence--for example, "a picture of John," "She walked from my house to yours.")
Nuestro amor está por encima de lo imaginable.
Our love is beyond the imaginable.

first and foremost

locución adverbial (principalmente)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Mi trabajo es, por encima de todo, asegurarme de que las personas estén cómodas.

give a cursory glance, give a quick look

locución verbal (mirar superficialmente)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
El médico solo vio al paciente por encima.
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. From her father's shoulders she could see over the crowd.

a quick look

(mirada rápida)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
No he leído el informe, solo le he echado un vistazo por encima.

live beyond your means

locución verbal (endeudarse) (figurative: debt)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Juan vive por encima de sus posibilidades: gasta más de lo que gana.
Juan lives beyond his means: he spends more than he earns.

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So now that you know more about the meaning of por encima 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.

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.