Gilipollas
Idiot, jerk, dickhead — Spain's favourite insult, never singular-looking and never far away.
Related lesson: Fed Up in Spanish — Frustration Like a Native.
Hear it in context
El gilipollas de mi vecino ha aparcado en mi plaza otra vez.
My idiot neighbour has parked in my space again.
No seas gilipollas, tío, que te van a pillar.
Don't be an idiot, mate, you'll get caught.
Eso es una gilipollez y lo sabes.
That's complete nonsense and you know it.
Me siento un poco gili por haberle creído.
I feel a bit stupid for believing him.
What It Actually Means
Gilipollas means idiot, jerk or dickhead, and it’s probably the most-used insult in Spain. It covers the driver who cuts you off, the coworker who takes credit for your work, and your friend who forgot his keys again. It’s vulgar — the second half is polla, slang for “penis” — but it’s so common that in Spain it lands as a strong everyday insult rather than a shocking one. Think “dickhead” or “twat” in British English.
The Grammar
It ends in -s but it isn’t plural. Un gilipollas, una gilipollas, unos gilipollas — the article carries gender and number, and the word stays the same, like el paraguas. Related forms:
- Gilipollez — a stupid act or idea: “¡Qué gilipollez!”
- Gili — clipped and softer, often used about yourself.
- Gilipuertas and similar — joking euphemisms that keep the rhythm and drop the vulgarity.
Where It Comes From
The RAE derives it from gilí (silly, from Caló, the language of Spanish Roma) plus polla. A popular story says it comes from a seventeenth-century court official, Gil Imón, whose unmarriageable daughters were mocked as “las pollas de Gil”. It’s a good story, but it isn’t the accepted etymology.
Common Pitfall
Gilipollas sounds unmistakably Spanish. Latin Americans understand it from Spanish films and series, but using it in Mexico or Argentina marks you as someone who learned from Spaniards. The local words are pendejo in Mexico and boludo or pelotudo in Argentina. And even in Spain, keep it away from anyone you’d need to apologise to later.