Does “bizarro” mean “bizarre” in Spanish?

Leonor Lavado imita a Tamara Falcó en El Hormiguero

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B2 Spanish listening practice · Spanish from Spain · Picked for people who know more

💡 Did you know?
bizarro
Spanish false friend
historically “brave, gallant” — but increasingly used (via English) to mean “weird, bizarre.”

Bizarro is a textbook falso amigo. Its traditional Spanish sense, per the RAE, is valiente — brave, gallant, dashing — nothing to do with the English “bizarre.” But because the old meaning faded and English “bizarre” is everywhere, speakers now widely use bizarro to mean strange or weird. So qué bizarro can mean “how brave!” to a purist and “how weird!” to almost everyone under forty — a live shift you can hear happening.

In this El Hormiguero bit the line “hay algo muy bizarro en esto” is exactly the modern, anglicized “there’s something very weird about this” — not “brave.” It is unmistakably Peninsular comedy, full of Spain-specific texture (me horroriza la gente que va con la sombrilla… esa nevera tan vulgar). Use bizarro knowing your listener may read it the other way.

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this B2 Spanish listening practice video?

91.5%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common Spanish words
Most of the words in this video are common Spanish words.

How common in written Spanish

85.8%
Top 1,000
91.5%
Top 2,000
95.5%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken Spanish

94.7%
Top 1,000
98.2%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000
👄 Words for talking
This video uses words people often say in Spanish.

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than B2. Here is what they mean.

malita
2×
Not in top 5,000
sick (slang)
colgaste
1×
Not in top 5,000
you hung (informal)
hacer el relevo
1×
pass on responsibilities or duties

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-ESP 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

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