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gostoso

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word gostoso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1563 More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Latin gustus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin gustus
French goût
Italian gusto
English gusto
Portuguese gosto
Portuguese gostoso
Romanian gust
Catalan gust
English gust
Spanish gusto
From the same root
French dégoûter ← gustus
Romanian gustar ← gust
Romanian gustos ← gust

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ɡosˈto.zu/[1]
  • Rio-de-Janeiro: /ɡoʃˈto.zu/[1]
  • Portugal: /ɡuʃˈto.zu/[1]

Forms

gostoso (feminine gostosa, masculine plural gostosos, feminine plural gostosas, comparable, comparative mais gostoso, superlative o mais gostoso or gostosíssimo, diminutive gostosinho, augmentative gostosão, metaphonic)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Portuguese gosto (“taste”) + -oso (“-ful”).[2][3][4][1] Vieira (1871) already explained it so.[5] The noun gosto goes back to Latin gustus (“taste”).[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the first record to 1563, and Cunha to the 16th century.[2][7] Bluteau (1712–1728) gives the two early senses: “tasty”, said of food, and “pleasing, delightful”.[8]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) defines the word as “causing pleasure” and adds “at ease, cheerful, content”, said of a person.[9] Vieira quotes Camões's Lusíadas (canto 4, stanza 99), where a gostosa vaidade is a vanity that pleases the one who has it.[5] The old Caldas Aulete illustrates “pleasant to the mind” with a line of D. Francisco Manuel and “cheerful, content” with one of Castilho.[10] Regional surveys in Portugal still record the sense “satisfied, pleased with something”.[11]

In Portugal the usual sense today is “tasty”; the DLP marks “pleasant” and “showing pleasure” as Brazilian.[4] Brazilian Portuguese widened the word to anything comfortable, soft or cosy, and in informal use to a sexually attractive person; it also says bancar o gostoso of someone who acts superior or plays hard to get.[2][10][1] In Brazil the word is used as an adverb too, “pleasantly, with gusto”.[2][10]

Timeline

  • 1563 – Houaiss's first record.[2]
  • 1712–1728 – Bluteau gives the senses “tasty” and “delightful”.[8]
  • 1718 – gostozo in a private letter.[12]
  • 1755 – Folqman renders it by Latin gustui jucundus.[13]
  • 1789 – Morais adds the sense “content, cheerful”.[9]
  • 1899 – Figueiredo lists “tasty”, “pleasing” and “showing pleasure”.[14]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. tasty, pleasant to eat: Este pão está muito gostoso.[2][3][15][1]
  2. pleasant, enjoyable: Que tarde gostosa![2][3][1]
  3. (Brazil) comfortable, soft, cosy.[2][10]
  4. Showing pleasure; cheerful, content: um riso gostoso.[2][3][15]
  5. (Brazil, informal) Sexually attractive, hot.[2][1]
  6. (Brazil, informal) Conceited; acting superior or playing hard to get (see gostosão).[2][10]

Adverb

  1. (Brazil) Pleasantly, with enjoyment.[2][10]

Word family

  • gostosamente
  • gostosão
  • gostosura
  • gostosinho

Usage notes

The feminine and the plurals have open /ɔ/ (gostosa, gostosos), the masculine singular closed /o/.[10][15][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. gostoso
  3. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. gostoso
  4. ^ a b 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. gostoso
  5. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 885
  6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. gosto
  7. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. gosto
  8. ^ 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. gostoso
  9. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 64
  10. ^ a b c d e f g 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. gostoso
  11. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. gostoso
  12. ^ 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. gostoso
  13. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. gostoso
  14. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 673
  15. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. gostoso
Cite this entry

“Gostoso.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/gostoso. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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