lejía
/leˈxia/
The English phrase "laundry bleach" is translated into Spanish as lejía.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In many Latin American countries, people use the word cloro to refer to laundry bleach instead of lejía.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation of lejía is /leˈxia/.
Did you know?
- In some Spanish-speaking regions, a person might use lavandina to refer to bleach, a term that sounds more like 'lavender' to an English ear.
- The word lejía shares its roots with the English word 'lye', which is a strong alkaline solution used in soap making.
- In Mexico, if you ask for lejía in a supermarket, the clerk might be confused because cloro is the nearly universal term for the product.
Examples in context
- Necesito comprar blanqueador de ropa para las camisas blancas.I need to buy laundry bleach for the white shirts.
- ¿Me puedes pasar la lejía?Could you pass me the bleach?
- La mancha es persistente. Deberíamos probar con cloro.The stain is persistent. We should try using chlorine.
- Necesito comprar lejía para la ropa blanca.I need to buy laundry bleach for white clothes.
- Ten cuidado, la lejía puede manchar la alfombra.Be careful, the laundry bleach can stain the rug.
- Pon un poco de lejía en el lavado.Put a little laundry bleach in the wash.
Example conversation
Sofía and Javier are in the kitchen looking at a cleaning list.
- Sofía¿Tienes lejía en el armario de la cocina?Do you have laundry bleach in the kitchen cupboard?
- JavierNo, creo que se nos acabó ayer.No, I think we ran out yesterday.
- SofíaEstá bien, yo la compraré más tarde.That's fine, I will buy it later.
- JavierGracias, Sofía, me ayudaría mucho.Thanks, Sofía, that would help me a lot.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry lejía, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries lejía, CC BY-SA 4.0.
