Cruda
Hangover — literally "raw", which is exactly how it feels.
Related lesson: Going for Drinks: Order Like You Live There.
Hear it in context
Traigo una cruda espantosa, ya no vuelvo a tomar.
I have a horrible hangover, I'm never drinking again.
Ando bien crudo, ¿vamos por una birria?
I'm so hungover — should we go get some birria?
No me sirvas tanto, mañana trabajo y no quiero andar crudo.
Don't pour me so much, I work tomorrow and I don't want to be hungover.
La cruda moral es peor que la cruda normal.
The moral hangover is worse than the regular one.
What It Actually Means
Cruda — literally “raw” (feminine) — is the Mexican word for a hangover, and it’s vividly apt: you feel raw. Where a Spaniard wakes up with a resaca, a Mexican wakes up with una cruda, or simply anda crudo/cruda (“is hungover”, using the adjective).
Common Constructions
- Traer / tener cruda — to have a hangover: “Traigo una cruda terrible.”
- Andar / estar crudo(a) — to be hungover: “Amanecí bien cruda.” Note it agrees with the speaker’s gender.
- La cruda moral — the “moral hangover”: the wave of regret about what you said or did last night, an expression Mexicans deploy with great comic timing.
- Curarse la cruda — to cure the hangover, traditionally with spicy broth: birria, menudo, or chilaquiles, plus plenty of jokes about hair of the dog.
Regional Contrast
The dictionary word is resaca, and it’s what you’ll hear in Spain and Argentina — Mexicans understand it but essentially never say it. Say resaca in Mexico City and you’re marked as foreign; say cruda and you sound like you’ve actually lived a Sunday morning there.
Register Notes
Cruda is informal but universal and inoffensive — it’s the normal word at any register short of a medical form. Just mind the mundane trap: crudo/cruda also still means “raw” for food, so “la carne está cruda” is about undercooked meat, not a hungover steak.