ursinho de pelúcia
masculine
The Portuguese phrase for teddy bear is ursinho de pelúcia.
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. While ursinho de pelúcia is the standard way to refer to this toy, you can also use urso de pelúcia to refer to a plush bear in a more general sense.
Meaning: a stuffed toy bear (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The word ursinho is the diminutive form of urso (bear), meaning little bear.
Which one should you use?
ursinho de pelúcia is the standard term for a teddy bear. In contrast, urso de pelúcia uses the non-diminutive form and refers to a plush bear more generally. Additionally, ursinho de peluche is an informal variation.
How does it change in a sentence?
To form the plural, change ursinho to ursinhos and keep pelúcia in its singular form to get ursinhos de pelúcia.
Did you know?
- The diminutive ursinho is so common that it is frequently used as a nickname for a romantic partner or a child, regardless of any actual toy.
- The word pelúcia comes from the Italian word peluzzo, which refers to a small piece of lint or a fluff of wool.
- In Brazil, it is common to simply call a teddy bear an ursinho and drop de pelúcia entirely in casual conversation.
Examples in context
- Tom tem treze anos e ainda dorme com um ursinho de pelúcia.Tom is thirteen and still sleeps with a teddy bear.This sentence shows how to use ursinho de pelúcia when describing someone who still sleeps with a teddy bear.Tatoeba #9947056 by bill, translation #9345491 by DJ_Saidez
- Eu ainda tenho o meu ursinho de pelúcia da infância.I still have my childhood teddy bear.
- A minha filha dorme todos os dias com um ursinho de peluche.My daughter sleeps with a teddy bear every day.
- Eu comprei um ursinho de pelúcia para ela.I bought a teddy bear for her.
- O ursinho de pelúcia está em cima da cama.The teddy bear is on top of the bed.
Example conversation
Camila and Felipe are decorating a baby nursery.
- CamilaFelipe, você viu o ursinho de pelúcia?Felipe, did you see the teddy bear?
- FelipeSim, eu coloquei ele no berço.Yes, I put it in the crib.
- CamilaEle ficou muito fofo no berço.It looked very cute in the crib.
- FelipeO quarto ficou lindo com ele.The room looks beautiful with it.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “teddy bear” translations and entries ursinho de pelúcia, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, pelúcia, ursinho, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
