antipático
/antiˈpatiko/
The English word 'unfriendly' is translated into Spanish as antipático.
Antipático is used to describe someone who is not friendly or who has a hostile, unpleasant personality.
Meaning: not friendly, hostile (adj)
Which one should you use?
While English speakers might use 'unfriendly' to describe a place or an object that is inhospitable, you should not use antipático for this purpose in Spanish.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective must agree in gender and number with the person or group being described. Use the feminine form antipática for a woman, and the masculine plural form antipáticos for a group of men or a mixed-gender group. For a group consisting only of women, use the feminine plural form antipáticas.
How do you pronounce it?
/antiˈpatiko/
Did you know?
- The opposite of antipático is simpático, which is a 'false friend' because it describes a likable person rather than someone who is 'sympathetic' to another's grief.
- Using antipático to describe a dark room or bad weather would sound like you are claiming the room or the weather has a malicious personality.
- The word antipático shares the same Greek root as the English word 'antipathy', meaning 'feeling against', but it has evolved into a standard everyday term for 'mean' in Spanish.
Examples in context
- Él es rico, sin embargo antipático.He's rich, though unfriendly.This sentence uses antipático to describe a man who is rich but unfriendly.Tatoeba #5651006 by albrusgher, translation #1780180 by Shadd
- El maestro es antipático.The teacher is unfriendly.This sentence uses antipático to describe a teacher.Tatoeba #2002678 by bichodebola, translation #2002526 by bichodebola
- Siento decirlo, pero el jefe de ventas tiene una actitud antipática hacia los nuevos empleados.I'm sorry to say this, but the sales manager has an unfriendly attitude towards new employees.
- Ten cuidado al conversar con ellos, suelen ser bastante distantes en las reuniones de trabajo.Be careful when talking to them, they tend to be quite unfriendly during work meetings.
- La secretaria mostró una actitud hostil cada vez que intenté hacer una pregunta durante la conferencia.The secretary displayed an unfriendly attitude every time I tried to ask a question during the conference.
- No me invitó a su fiesta, ¡qué desagradable!He didn't invite me to his party – how unfriendly!
- No entiendo por qué fue tan borde cuando le pedí ayuda.I don't understand why he/she was so unfriendly when I asked for help.
- El nuevo vecino es muy antipático.The new neighbor is very unfriendly.
Example conversation
Lucía and Javier are talking about a coworker.
- Lucía¿Te gusta trabajar con Carlos?Do you like working with Carlos?
- JavierNo, él es un poco antipático.No, he is a bit unfriendly.
- LucíaEs verdad, siempre parece enfadado.It's true, he always seems angry.
- JavierSí, no es una persona agradable.Yes, he is not a pleasant person.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry antipático, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries antipático, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
