acoso
/aˈkoso/
The English word stalking translates to Spanish as acoso.
acoso is a noun used to refer to the crime of following or harassing a person.
Meaning: crime of following or harassing (noun)
Which one should you use?
While acoso is the noun for the crime, acosar is the verb used to describe the act of stalking or harassing someone. For more specific formal contexts, you may encounter acosamiento or acecho.
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun acoso is derived from the verb acosar, which means to stalk, harass or pester.
How do you pronounce it?
/aˈkoso/
Did you know?
- While acoso is the standard term for harassment, in digital contexts, Spanish speakers often use the English loanword 'stalking' or 'stalkear' to describe social media monitoring.
- In Spanish, acoso is used for various types of harassment that English separates into different words, such as 'bullying' acoso escolar and 'sexual harassment' acoso sexual.
- The term acecho, which is a synonym for stalking, shares the same root as the word for a way to hunt or watch a prey in ambush.
Examples in context
- Hallaron culpable a Sami de acoso criminal.Sami was found guilty of felony stalking.This sentence is useful for showing how to describe being found guilty of the crime using acoso.Tatoeba #7917739 by fpp, translation #6810847 by OsoHombre
- El acusado ha sido arrestado por acecho continuo.The defendant has been arrested for continuous stalking.
- La víctima ha presentado pruebas de persecución en su contra.The victim has presented evidence of stalking against them.
- Creo que alguien me está espiando en las redes sociales.I think someone is stalking me on social media.
- Mis vecinos me vigilan constantemente.My neighbors constantly watch me.
- Siempre me sigue en todas partes. Es muy incómodo.They always follow me everywhere, it's very uncomfortable.
- La policía investiga un caso de acoso.The police are investigating a case of stalking.
- Ella denunció el acoso que sufría.She reported the stalking she was suffering.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a news story.
- Javier¿Viste que detuvieron a ese hombre por acoso?Did you see that they arrested that man for stalking?
- ElenaSí, es terrible lo que hizo.Yes, what he did is terrible.
- JavierLa mujer tuvo mucho miedo.The woman was very afraid.
- ElenaMenos mal que ya terminó el acoso.Thank goodness the stalking is over now.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry acoso, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
