insuficiencia cardiaca
/insufiθjenθja kaɾdjaka/from spelling rulesfeminine
The English phrase heart failure is insuficiencia cardiaca in Spanish.
The term refers to the chronic inability of the heart.
Meaning: chronic inability of the heart (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
Because insuficiencia is a feminine noun, the adjective cardiaca must also be in its feminine form.
How do you pronounce it?
/insufiθjenθja kaɾdjaka/
Did you know?
- While 'failure' in English implies a complete stop, insuficiencia literally means 'insufficiency'. It describes a heart that is still working but is not providing enough blood to meet the body's needs.
- In some Latin American regions, a person experiencing sudden heart failure might be described as having un paro cardiaco, which literally means a 'cardiac stop'.
- The term insuficiencia is also used in economics to describe 'insuficiencia de fondos', or a shortage of funds, showing the word's versatility beyond biology.
Examples in context
- Señor Martínez, lamentablemente, sufre de insuficiencia cardíaca.Mr. Martinez, unfortunately, you suffer from heart failure.
- La insuficiencia cardiaca es una enfermedad seria.Heart failure is a serious disease.
- El paciente sufre de insuficiencia cardiaca.The patient suffers from heart failure.
- Debes controlar la insuficiencia cardiaca con medicación.You must manage heart failure with medication.
Example conversation
A doctor explains a diagnosis to a patient in a clinic.
- SofíaLos resultados confirman que tiene insuficiencia cardiaca.The results confirm that you have heart failure.
- Daniel¿Es muy grave mi insuficiencia cardiaca, doctora?Is my heart failure very serious, doctor?
- SofíaEs crónica, pero podemos tratarla.It is chronic, but we can treat it.
- DanielEntiendo, gracias por la explicación.I understand, thank you for the explanation.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “heart failure” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
