gusano

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish gusano.

Noun

gusano (plural gusanos or gusanoes)

1. (derogatory, leftism) A Cuban reactionary or counter-revolutionary.
   • 2005 March, Michael D. Yates, “The Ghosts of Karl Marx and Edward Abbey”, in Monthly Review‎^[2], archived from the original on 21 March 2026:

     [...] in honor of the charitable work of the Cuban-born gusano singer Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio. A few yards away, homeless people tried to get some sleep.

   • 2024 [2020 November 3], D. Musa Springer, “the apocalypse”, in Alive and Paranoid‎^[3], Iskra Books, →ISBN, page 79‎^[4], archived from the original on 21 March 2026:

     was amerika’s grip on Cuba and Venezuela and
     Hawaii and Puerto Rico and Guam and
     Iraq and Haiti and indian residential schools
     was the miami gusanos cheering for Fidel’s death

   • 2023 October 4, u/YugoCommie89, r/ShitLiberalsSay‎^[5] (Reddit post), archived from the original on 10 October 2023:

     We had a Gusano come and complain about local Murals of Castro. So fucking funny, never expected Miami Gusanos to go around posting this outside their circle jerks.

2. (by extension, derogatory, leftism) A reactionary or counter-revolutionary of any nationality, especially one who supports and/or calls for Western intervention.

   Synonyms: comprador, running dog

   • 2022 September 21, u/AkenoKobayashi, “What is the leftist opinion on the term "gusano"?”, in r/Socialism_101‎^[6] (Reddit post), archived from the original on 22 September 2022:

     Gusano is an insult used by every socialist aimed at people who abandon their country for western luxury. I’ve seen Chinese people use it against other Chinese (particularly Hong Kongers), Vietnamese against other Vietnamese, and obviously Cubans against Floridian Cubans.

   • 2024 September 1, u/Ok-Musician3580, r/CommunismMemes‎^[7] (Reddit post), archived from the original on 1 September 2024:

     A Russian gusano miserably arguing that the fall of the USSR was good.

   • 2025 March 17, u/z7cho1kv, r/ShitLiberalsSay‎^[8] (Reddit post), archived from the original on 5 May 2025:

     If you thought Iranian gusanos were bad, wait until you see Arab gusanos.

   • 2025 December 15, u/mattxrock, “Thougths about Gustavo Petro ? 🇨🇴”, in r/AskSocialists‎^[9] (Reddit post), archived from the original on 21 March 2026:

     That being said, Colombia has always been dominated almost exclusively by right-wing gusanoes [...]

Chavacano

Etymology

Inherited from Spanish gusano.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡuˈsano/, [ɡuˈsa.no]
• Hyphenation: gu‧sa‧no

Noun

gusano

1. worm

   Synonym: bulati

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish gusano, of further uncertain origin. Possibly from Latin cossus (with an additional suffix), according to the Diccionario de la lengua española of 1884, but this is highly unlikely. Possibly from Paleo-Hispanic. Unrelated to Russian гу́сеница (gúsenica, “worm”).

In the sense of "counter-revolutionary" or "reactionary" it can be attributed to Fidel Castro.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡuˈsano/ [ɡuˈsa.no]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ano
• Syllabification: gu‧sa‧no

Noun

gusano m (plural gusanos)

1. worm

   Synonym: lombriz

   gusano de seda ― silkworm

2. insect larva, such as a grub, caterpillar, or maggot

   Synonyms: larva, oruga

3. (figurative) worm, low person
5. (Cuba, derogatory) Cuban reactionary or counter-revolutionary

Derived terms

• agujero de gusano
• agusanar
• gusanear
• gusanillo
• gusanito
• gusano de la seda
• gusano de luz
• gusano de seda
• gusano informático
• gusano plano
• gusano redondo
• gusano soldado

Descendants

• Chavacano: gusano
• → English: gusano

See also

• gusarapa

Further reading

• “gusano”, 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
• “gusano”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010