pendejo

Borrowed from Spanish pendejo.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɛnˈdeɪhəʊ/, enPR: pĕn-dā'hō
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /penˈdehəʉ/, enPR: pĕn-dĕ'hō
• (US) IPA^(key): /pɛnˈdeɪhoʊ/, /pɛnˈdɛhoʊ/, enPR: pĕn-dā'hō, pĕn-dĕ'hō

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

pendejo (plural pendejos)

1. (US, Mexico, slang, derogatory) A stupid person.

• Typically only used by Spanish-speaking people.

• pndejo, pndjo, pndj, pdj, pnj (censored)

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *pectinī̆culum, diminutive of Latin pecten (“pubic hair; comb”). The unexpected /nd/ may be due to the influence of pender (“hang down, dangle”). Compare Portuguese pentelho.

• IPA^(key): /penˈdexo/ [pẽn̪ˈd̪e.xo]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -exo
• Syllabification: pen‧de‧jo

pendejo m (plural pendejos, feminine pendeja, feminine plural pendejas)

1. (masculine only, rare, dated) pubic hair (a single hair growing in the pubic region)

   Hypernym: vello púbico

2. (derogatory, vulgar, chiefly Latin America) arsehole, asshole, stupid, idiot, dirtbag, scumbag (a contemptible person)
   • 2006, Edgar, La caída de Edgar:

     ¡Ya, güey! ¡Pinche pendejo, güey, ya! ¡Pinche vato! ¡Ya güey! ¡Ya güey, por favor, idiota! ¡Pinche pendejo idiota!

     Hey, dude! You fucking idiot, dude, stop! You fucking dude! Stop it, dude! Stop it, dude, please, you idiot! You fucking idiot!

   ¡Qué pendejo!

   What an idiot!

   No me importa lo que ese pendejo diga.

   I don't care about what that asshole says.

   ¡Cállate, jodido pendejo de mierda!

   Shut up, fucking idiot!

   Ese pendejo no me hace caso.

   That idiot doesn't pay attention to me.

3. (derogatory, vulgar, chiefly Latin America) dumbass (stupid person)

   Synonyms: idiota, (Spain) gilipollas, (Argentina, Dominican Republic) boludo

   Paco reprobó el examen. Es un pinche pendejo.

   Paco failed the test. He's a fucking dumbass.

   Todos ustedes son pendejos.

   All of you are idiots.

   No más pendejos aquí.

   No more idiots here.

4. (Southern Cone, colloquial) young boy

   Cuando era pendejo ibamos a Mar de Plata todos los veranos.

   When I was a boy we went to Mar de Plata every summer.

   1. (Southern Cone, Panama, colloquial) man child
5. (Southern Cone) punk (an adolescent who presumes to be an adult)
6. (Costa Rica, Caribbean) coward
7. (Peru, vulgar) perspicacious, perceptive, cunning, smart, clever, scoundrel
8. (colloquial) of irregular and disorderly life
9. (Andalusia, colloquial) mistletoe
10. (Andalusia, colloquial) type of pumpkin

pendejo (feminine pendeja, masculine plural pendejos, feminine plural pendejas)

1. (derogatory, offensive, vulgar, chiefly Latin America) stupid, idiot, asshole

   No seas tan pendejo.

   Don't be so stupid.

   Me jodí por pendejo.

   I screwed myself over for being stupid.

• Although in some contexts zonzo, bobo, tonto, menso, culero, tarado, idiota, imbécil, estúpido and pendejo may be synonyms, in most contexts they have a different degree of intensity, with zonzo having the mildest connotation, increasing in intensity in that rough order, to estúpido and pendejo, which have the most offensive meaning.

• “pendejo”, 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
• “pendejo”, 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
• “pendejo”, in Diccionario del español de México, Segunda edición, Academia Mexicana de la Lengua, 2019
• Seco, Manuel; Andrés, Olimpia; Ramos, Gabino (2023), “pendejo”, in Diccionario del español actual (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA