cattivo

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Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin captīvus (captive” → “caught by the devil” → “bad). Compare the semantic development of French chétif (puny, scrawny) and Galician cativo.

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Italian) IPA(key): /katˈti.vo/
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  • Rhymes: -ivo
  • Hyphenation: cat‧tì‧vo

Adjective

cattivo (feminine cattiva, masculine plural cattivi, feminine plural cattive, superlative cattivissimo, diminutive cattivèllo or cattivétto or cattivùccio, augmentative (usually jocular) cattivóne m or cattivóna f, pejorative cattivàccio)

  1. bad
    Synonyms: brutto, malvagio
    Antonym: buono
    Ho un cattivo presentimento.
    I have a bad feeling.
  2. wicked, naughty

Derived terms

See also

Noun

cattivo m (plural cattivi, feminine cattiva)

  1. villain

Derived terms

Further reading

  • cattivo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana