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Portuguese · The Basics

Cacete!

kah-SEH-chee · /ka.ˈse.tʃi/

Damn! / Bloody hell! — also 'a ton' as 'pra cacete'

2/5 Bar-safe

coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances

Literally

"Club / cudgel (slang: dick)"

Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.

How to use it

Exclamation of surprise or annoyance, a notch softer than "caralho" and often swapped in for it. "Pra cacete" means "a hell of a lot" ("choveu pra cacete"). "Que cacete é esse?" — "what the hell is this?" Bar-safe and very common, especially in Rio and the Southeast.

Heard in the wild

Cacete, que fila enorme!

Bloody hell, what a huge line!

Where it lands

Brazil (universal); heard more in the Southeast.

Quick answers

What does "Cacete!" mean?
In Portuguese, "Cacete!" means "Damn! / Bloody hell! — also 'a ton' as 'pra cacete'". Literally it's "Club / cudgel (slang: dick)". Exclamation of surprise or annoyance, a notch softer than "caralho" and often swapped in for it. "Pra cacete" means "a hell of a lot" ("choveu pra cacete"). "Que cacete é esse?" — "what the hell is this?" Bar-safe and very common, especially in Rio and the Southeast.
Is "Cacete!" offensive?
It's on the mild end — 2/5 (Bar-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances.
How do you pronounce "Cacete!"?
Say it "kah-SEH-chee" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: ka.ˈse.tʃi.

Related in Portuguese

Porra! POH-hah Damn! / Fuck! — but mostly used as pure punctuation Caralho! kah-RAH-lyoo Fuck! / Hell! — exclamation and all-purpose intensifier Merda! MEHR-dah Shit! / Crap! Droga! DROH-gah Darn! / Damn it! Caramba! kah-RAHM-bah Wow! / Geez! / Holy cow! Bosta! BOSS-tah Crap! / (a) piece of garbage

The same idea, elsewhere

Via concepts like "Damn".

how to say "Damn" →

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