quemado
/keˈmado/
The Spanish word for burnt is quemado.
quemado is an adjective meaning damaged or injured by fire or heat. In many Spanish-speaking countries, it is also used colloquially to describe a person who is extremely exhausted or 'burnt out'.
Meaning: damaged or injured by fire or heat (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
quemado also functions as the past participle of the verb quemar (to burn) when used with auxiliary verbs.
How do you pronounce it?
/keˈmado/
Did you know?
- The phrase quemarse las pestañas literally translates to 'to burn one's eyelashes', but it is a common idiom meaning to study very hard late into the night.
- A common Spanish idiom, quemar las naves, meaning to 'burn the ships', refers to making a decision that is impossible to undo.
- The word quemado shares a distant linguistic ancestor with the English word 'kindle', as both relate to the ancient roots of fire and heat.
Examples in context
- He quemado la tostada.I've burnt the toast.This sentence is useful for seeing how to describe burnt food using quemado.Tatoeba #718817 by Shishir, translation #38294 by Zifre
- Niños quemados temen al fuego.A burnt child fears the fire.This sentence shows how to use quemado to describe people in a proverb.Tatoeba #3196668 by cueyayotl, translation #23795 by CM
- Giordano Bruno fue quemado vivo en el año 1600.Giordano Bruno was burnt alive in the year 1600.This sentence demonstrates the use of quemado when describing someone being burnt alive.Tatoeba #3210086 by hayastan, translation #13023399 by araneo
- La comida está quemadaThe food is burnt.
- El bosque está carbonizadoThe forest is burnt to a crisp.
- Esta tostada está quemadaThis toast is burnt.
- El pan está chamuscadoThe bread is slightly burnt.
- Durante el incendio, varias casas quedaron completamente carbonizadas.During the fire, several houses were completely burnt.
- La carne está completamente quemada, parece un carbón.The meat is completely burnt, it looks like a piece of coal.
- 6 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
In a kitchen after a cooking mishap.
- AlejandroSofía, el arroz está quemado.Sofía, the rice is burnt.
- Sofía¡Qué lástima! Lo siento mucho, Alejandro.What a shame! I am very sorry, Alejandro.
- AlejandroNo te preocupes, no pasa nada.Don't worry, it's nothing.
- SofíaPediré algo de comida para nosotros.I will order some food for us.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “burnt” translations and entries quemado, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
