Cutre
Shabby, tacky, low-quality — done on the cheap.
Hear it in context
El bar era un poco cutre, pero las tapas estaban buenísimas.
The bar was a bit of a dive, but the tapas were amazing.
El hotel era cutre de verdad: sin agua caliente y con las sábanas viejas.
The hotel was genuinely grim: no hot water and old sheets.
Qué regalo más cutre le hicieron por su jubilación.
What a tacky present they gave him for his retirement.
No seas cutre y pide un taxi, que está lloviendo.
Don't be a cheapskate — get a taxi, it's raining.
What It Actually Means
Cutre describes anything shabby, tacky, or done on the cheap: a run-down bar, a flimsy souvenir, a website that looks like 2003, a party with one bag of crisps. It’s the catch-all for “low quality where someone clearly didn’t try or didn’t spend”. There’s no single English equivalent — it covers “grotty”, “tacky”, “sketchy-cheap”, and “half-arsed” depending on context.
Common Constructions
- Un bar/sitio cutre — a dive, a grotty place.
- Ser (un) cutre — of a person: to be a cheapskate or to do things shoddily.
- Una cutrez — the noun: a piece of junk or a shoddy effort: “El final de la serie fue una cutrez.”
- Cutre-salchichero — jokey intensified form you’ll hear for something spectacularly shoddy.
Common Pitfall
Cutre is about quality and effort, not danger. A bar cutre has sticky floors and fluorescent lighting; a barrio chungo is the one that feels unsafe. Learners often swap them — natives never do.
The Rule That Matters
The word is informal but not rude, and Spaniards frequently use it with affection: “un bareto cutre de esos con las bravas buenas” is practically a recommendation. Tone decides whether it’s a complaint or a badge of honour.