What does tonto in Spanish mean?

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

The word tonto in Spanish means stupid, fool, idiot, naive, gullible, fool, dummy, silly, sappy, shrinking violet, stuck-up, bighead, dumb, stupid, birdbrain, goofball, dumb, clueless, awkwardly, inadvertently, fool around, make a fool of yourself, play the fool, waste time, play dumb, play dumb, play the fool, make a fool of yourself, be no fool, be nobody's fool, a complete fool, a complete fool, he who reads this is a fool, the last one is a rotten egg, a fool always finds praise from other fools, we underestimated him. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word tonto

stupid

adjetivo (bobo, poco inteligente)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Ese muchacho tonto no sabe usar una calculadora.
That stupid guy doesn't know how to use a calculator.

fool, idiot

nombre masculino, nombre femenino (persona poco inteligente)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
No seas cruel con ese pobre tonto.
Don't be mean to that poor fool.

naive, gullible

adjetivo (inocentón, ingenuo)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Esa jovencita tonta se dejó estafar en el mercado.
That naive girl let herself get ripped off in the market.

fool, dummy

nombre masculino, nombre femenino (persona ingenua)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Aquel tonto se cree que todo el mundo es bueno.
That fool (or: dummy) thinks that everyone's good.

silly, sappy

adjetivo (de gran sensibilidad)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Solo las personas tontas se conmueven con esta película.
Only silly (or: sappy) people are moved by this film.

shrinking violet

nombre masculino, nombre femenino (persona de gran sensibilidad) (highly sensitive)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Diana es una tonta que llora por cualquier cosa.
Diana is a shrinking violet who cries over anything.

stuck-up

adjetivo (presumido, vanidoso)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Mira que eres tonta: te pasas todo el día preocupada por cómo tienes el peinado.
You're so stuck-up; you've been worried about what to do with your hair all day.

bighead

nombre masculino, nombre femenino (persona vanidosa) (very vain person)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ese tonto no puede pasar por delante de un espejo sin mirarse.
That bighead can't walk past a mirror without checking himself out.

dumb, stupid

adjetivo (torpe, inepto)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
¡Qué tonto eres tirándolo todo siempre!
ⓘEsta oración no es una traducción de la original. I like the guy, but he's a little dumb.

birdbrain, goofball

nombre masculino, nombre femenino (persona torpe) (colloquial)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ese tonto le puso demasiada sal a la comida.
That birdbrain put too much salt in the food.

dumb, clueless

adjetivo (que denota poca inteligencia)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
No entiende lo que le dices porque es tonto. Las declaraciones tontas del ministro sorprendieron a todo el mundo.
He doesn't understand what you're on about because he's dumb (or: clueless).

awkwardly

locución adverbial (torpemente)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Pintaste las figuras a lo tonto y ahora tienes que pintarlas otra vez y con mejor acabado.

inadvertently

locución adverbial (sin darse cuenta)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Pensábamos que era demasiado, pero a lo tonto nos hemos bebido todas las botellas.

fool around, make a fool of yourself, play the fool

locución verbal (coloquial (tontear, bobear)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Luis estaba haciendo el tonto con sus amigos. ¡No hagas el tonto, caramba! Pareces un crío.
Luis was folling around with his friends. Don't make a fool of yourself, for crying out loud! You look like a child.

waste time

locución verbal (CR, coloquial (perder el tiempo)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
No terminé el proyecto por hacer tonto el día entero.
I didn't get the project done as I'd been wasting time the whole day.

play dumb

locución verbal (fingir ignorancia)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
No te hagas el tonto: te toca bañar al perro. No te hagas la tonta; yo sé que entendiste bien.
Don't play dumb. It's your turn to wash the dog.

play dumb

locución verbal (México (engañarse solo) (colloquial)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
No te hagas tonto, deja de inventar excusas para justificar tu comportamiento.

play the fool, make a fool of yourself

locución verbal (ES, coloquial (portarse como bobo)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Nicolás fue de tonto toda la fiesta.
Nicolas played the fool the whole party.

be no fool, be nobody's fool

expresión (nada de tonto)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

a complete fool

locución nominal masculina (ES, enfático, ofensivo (bobo, ignorante) (offensive)

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

a complete fool

locución nominal masculina (ES, coloquial, desaprobación (bobo, ignorante) (offensive)

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

he who reads this is a fool

expresión (infantil (pintada humorística)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
El letrero decía "tonto el que lo lea" y todos nos reímos.
The sign said, "He who reads this is a fool," and we all laughed.

the last one is a rotten egg

expresión (coloquial, infantil (juego, carrera)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

a fool always finds praise from other fools

expresión (hay de todo)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

we underestimated him

expresión (ES: coloquial (es mejor de lo esperado)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Mi hermano ya va a terminar sus estudios de doctorado. ¡Y parecía tonto cuando lo compramos!
My brother is about to finish his doctorate studies. We underestimated him!

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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.