malhumorado
/malumoˈɾado/
The English word "moody" is translated into Spanish as malhumorado.
The word is used to describe someone who is temperamental or given to sudden and frequent changes of mind. While malhumorado is an adjective, you can also use the phrase de mal humor to describe someone who is currently in a bad mood.
Meaning: Given to sudden or frequent changes of mind, temperamental (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
As an adjective, malhumorado must agree in gender and number with the person or group being described. Use malhumorada for a female, malhumorados for a group of men or a mixed-gender group and malhumoradas for a group consisting only of females.
How do you pronounce it?
/malumoˈɾado/
Did you know?
- The word humor comes from the ancient medical theory of the four humors, which believed that an imbalance of bodily fluids caused different temperaments. This is why malhumorado literally refers to having 'bad humors'.
- A person who is constantly malhumorado might be described as having mala leche, which literally translates to 'bad milk' but means they have a sour temperament.
- In some Latin American regions, instead of calling someone malhumorado, people might say they are de un humor de perros, which literally translates to 'of a dog's mood'.
Examples in context
- Mi jefe es de temperamento cambianteMy boss is moody
- María es de genio cambianteMaría is moody
- Ana es de carácter variableAna is moody
- Hoy mi hermana está de mal humorToday, my sister is moody
- Mi hija está de humor cambianteMy daughter is moody
- Mis hermanos tienen un temperamento variableMy siblings have a moody temperament
- Anoche escuché una canción muy melancólicaLast night, I listened to a very moody song
- No me gusta hablar con él cuando está malhumorado.I don't like talking to him when he is moody.
- Mi hermano es un poco malhumorado por las mañanas.My brother is a bit moody in the mornings.
Example conversation
Javier and Elena are discussing Javier's roommate at home.
- Javier¿Por qué está tan callado tu compañero?Why is your roommate so quiet?
- ElenaEs que hoy está muy malhumorado.It's just that he is very moody today.
- JavierLo siento, no quería molestarlo.I'm sorry, I didn't want to bother him.
- ElenaNo te preocupes, es su carácter.Don't worry, it's just his temperament.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry malhumorado, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
