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desagradável

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word desagradável

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1713 Bluteau's Vocabulario portuguez e latino More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origin
Portuguese desagradar,-vel

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /de.za.ɡɾaˈda.vew/, [de.za.ɡɾaˈda.veʊ̯], /d͡ʒi.za.ɡɾaˈda.vew/[1]
  • Portugal: /dɨ.zɐ.ɡɾɐˈda.vɛl/, [dɨ.zɐ.ɣɾɐˈða.vɛɫ][1]
  • Northern, Portugal: /dɨ.zɐ.ɡɾɐˈda.bɛl/, [dɨ.zɐ.ɣɾɐˈða.βɛɫ][1]
  • Portugal, Southern: /dɨ.zɐ.ɡɾɐˈda.vɛl/, [dɨ.zɐ.ɡɾɐˈda.vɛɫ][1]

Forms

desagradável m or f (plural desagradáveis, comparable, comparative mais desagradável, superlative o mais desagradável or desagradabilíssimo)[1] A private letter of 1760 spells it dezagradavel.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese desagradar (“to displease”) + -vel, the verb itself being formed from des- and agradar (“to please”).[3][4][5][1] The Academia's dictionary, Porto Editora and Vieira analyse it instead as the same prefix added to agradável (“pleasant”).[6][7][8]

The Romance languages have parallel formations: Spanish desagradable, Catalan desagradable, French désagréable and, with another prefix, Italian sgradevole.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bluteau's dictionary, in the volume of 1713, defines desagradavel as a thing that does not please, with the example of a cheese unpleasant to the taste (Hum queijo desagradavel ao gosto).[3][9] The verb desagradar is older, recorded from 1570.[10]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1813) gives the sense “not pleasing”, then “bad-tasting”, and a figurative use for circumstances of the moral order, such as being in unpleasant or distressing situations.[11] Vieira extends it to both physical and moral displeasure: things unpleasant to see, to hear or to taste.[8] Today it is also said of a person who behaves so as to irritate others, and, used as a noun, of whatever displeases.[3][6][12]

Timeline

  • 1570 – first record of the verb desagradar, spelt desaggradar.[10]
  • 1713 – Bluteau's Vocabulario lists desagradavel.[3][9]
  • 1760 – dezagradavel in a private letter.[2]
  • 1813 – Morais's dictionary has the word, the date Cunha gives for it.[13][11]
  • 1871–1874 – Vieira lists its physical and moral senses.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. unpleasant, disagreeable: causing displeasure or a bad impression, as a smell or a place: Havia no quarto um odor desagradável.[3][4][1]
  2. Annoying or upsetting, as news or an event.[3][6]
  3. Of a person: rude, hard to bear, behaving so as to irritate others.[3][7][6]
  4. Ugly; repugnant.[5][7]

Noun

  1. (o desagradável) Whatever displeases or annoys.[6][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. desagradável
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. desagradável
  4. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. desagradável
  5. ^ a b Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. desagradável
  6. ^ a b c d e Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. desagradável
  7. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2819
  8. ^ a b c Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 801
  9. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. desagradavel
  10. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. desagradar
  11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 544
  12. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. desagradável
  13. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. grão
Cite this entry

“Desagradável.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/desagrad%C3%A1vel. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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