desollado vivo
/desoʝado bibo/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'skinned alive' is translated into Spanish as desollado vivo.
The phrase describes the act of having the skin removed from the body while the person is still living. You can use the infinitive form desollar vivo to express the action of skinning someone alive, or the descriptive expression quitar la piel a alguien mientras está vivo/a to describe the process of removing someone's skin while they are alive.
What does it mean word for word?
The term is composed of the past participle desollado (skinned or flayed) and the adjective vivo (alive).
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase must agree in gender and number with the subject. Use desollada viva if the victim is female. Use desollados vivos for a group of males or a mixed group.
Did you know?
- Using desollar when referring to a human is particularly visceral because the verb specifically refers to the skinning of animals.
- In Spanish literary contexts, the word desollado can be used metaphorically to describe someone who has been emotionally stripped bare or left completely vulnerable.
- The word vivo has a distant cousin in the English word 'vital', both tracing back to the same Proto-Indo-European root meaning 'life'.
Examples in context
- El paciente sufrió heridas graves y fue desollado vivo durante el accidente.The patient suffered severe injuries and was skinned alive during the accident.
- El animal fue despellejado mientras estaba consciente, lo cual es un acto extremadamente cruel.The animal was skinned alive while conscious, which is an extremely cruel act.
- El criminal fue desollado vivo por la multitud.The criminal was skinned alive by the crowd.
- Dicen que lo dejaron desollado vivo en la leyenda.They say he was left skinned alive in the legend.
- Es una historia sobre un hombre desollado vivo.It is a story about a man skinned alive.
Example conversation
Javier and María are discussing a horror movie they just saw.
- Javier¿Viste esa película de terror?Did you see that horror movie?
- MaríaSí, fue horrible, un personaje fue desollado vivo.Yes, it was horrible, a character was skinned alive.
- JavierMaría, esa escena fue demasiado sangrienta para mí.María, that scene was too bloody for me.
- MaríaTienes razón, Javier, fue muy fuerte.You're right, Javier, it was very intense.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries vivo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
