What does “malcriado” mean in Spanish?

“Malcriado” is built transparently from “mal” (badly) plus “criado” (raised, brought up), so it literally means “badly raised.” It describes a child — or a grown-up acting like one — who is rude, disobedient and impertinent because nobody ever corrected them. The payoff is the morphology: once you see “criar” (to raise/rear) inside it, you also unlock “bien criado” (well brought up) and “crianza” (upbringing) for free.

Here an exasperated adult warns a boy he could fall and “irse al infierno por malcriado” — go to hell for being such a brat. Note the blame is on the upbringing, not just the moment: calling someone “malcriado” quietly faults whoever raised them. Compare the milder “maleducado” (ill-mannered). The verb “criar” also covers raising animals and even brewing/ageing, as in “vino criado en barrica.”