espantoso

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese espantoso (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria): diachronically espanto +‎ -oso.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /espanˈtoso/ [es̺.pan̪ˈt̪o.s̺ʊ]
• Rhymes: -oso
• Hyphenation: es‧pan‧to‧so

Adjective

espantoso (feminine espantosa, masculine plural espantosos, feminine plural espantosas)

1. dreadful
2. terrifying

   Synonym: tremendo

References

• “espantoso”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “espantoso”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “espantoso”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “espantoso”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “espantoso”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “espantoso”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “espantoso”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Portuguese espantardeverb.

Portuguese espanto

Portuguese -oso

Portuguese espantoso

From espanto (“amazement”) + -oso.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /is.pɐ̃ˈto.zu/, /es.pɐ̃ˈto.zu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /is.pɐ̃ˈto.zu/, /es.pɐ̃ˈto.zu/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /iʃ.pɐ̃ˈto.zu/, /eʃ.pɐ̃ˈto.zu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /(i)ʃ.pɐ̃ˈto.zu/

• Hyphenation: es‧pan‧to‧so

Adjective

espantoso (feminine espantosa, masculine plural espantosos, feminine plural espantosas, metaphonic)

1. amazing

   Synonym: incrível

Related terms

• espanto
• espantar

Further reading

• “espantoso”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “espantoso”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Spanish espantardeverb.

Spanish espanto

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-os

Proto-Indo-European *h₃édosder.?

Proto-Italic *-ŏ̄dsos?

Old Latin -ōssus

Latin -ōsus

Old Spanish -oso

Spanish -oso

Spanish espantoso

From espanto (“fright”) + -oso.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /espanˈtoso/ [es.pãn̪ˈt̪o.so]
• Rhymes: -oso
• Syllabification: es‧pan‧to‧so

Adjective

espantoso (feminine espantosa, masculine plural espantosos, feminine plural espantosas)

1. ghastly, gruesome, dreadful, awful, godawful, horrific, horrendous, horrible, terrible

   Synonyms: horrible, horripilante, horroroso, horrendo, terrible

2. frightful, frightening, scary, fearful, terrifying, shocking

   Synonyms: aterrador, terrorífico

3. hideous, appalling, atrocious, horrid

   Synonym: atroz

Further reading

• “espantoso”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025