Word	Translation	Example
la socarronería	sly humor, deadpan wit	Lo dijo con una socarronería que solo los que lo conocían pudieron detectar. He said it with a sly wit that only those who knew him could detect.
la retranca	dry irony, understated sarcasm (Galician origin)	Su retranca gallega dejaba a los interlocutores sin saber si hablaba en serio. His Galician dry irony left his interlocutors unsure whether he was being serious.
la sorna	mocking slowness, sardonic tone	Respondió con sorna, arrastrando las palabras como si el mundo le aburriera. He replied with sardonic slowness, dragging out the words as if the world bored him.
la guasa	playful mockery, teasing humor	Lo dijo medio en guasa, pero el comentario tenía más verdad de la que aparentaba. He said it half-jokingly, but the remark held more truth than it seemed.
la chunga	joking around, banter (colloquial)	Tomarse las cosas a chunga no siempre es la mejor estrategia en una negociación. Taking things as a joke isn't always the best strategy in a negotiation.
la chanza	jest, witticism (literary/formal)	Entre chanzas y veras, el diplomático consiguió destensar la reunión. Between jests and earnest remarks, the diplomat managed to ease the tension.
la mordacidad	mordancy, biting wit	La mordacidad de su crítica literaria le granjeó tantos admiradores como enemigos. The mordancy of his literary criticism earned him as many admirers as enemies.
la causticidad	causticity, corrosive sarcasm	La causticidad de sus comentarios hacía que nadie quisiera sentarse a su lado en las cenas. The causticity of his remarks meant nobody wanted to sit next to him at dinners.
el sarcasmo velado	veiled sarcasm	Detrás de cada cumplido suyo se escondía un sarcasmo velado que tardabas en percibir. Behind each of her compliments hid a veiled sarcasm you were slow to perceive.
la diatriba	diatribe, scathing verbal attack	Su diatriba contra la burocracia fue aplaudida por unos y censurada por otros. His diatribe against bureaucracy was applauded by some and censured by others.
la invectiva	invective, vitriolic speech	Lanzó una invectiva tan feroz que dejó a la audiencia boquiabierta. She launched such a fierce invective that it left the audience open-mouthed.
la perorata	harangue, tedious tirade	Nos soltó una perorata de media hora sobre los males del capitalismo mientras pedíamos la cuenta. He unleashed a half-hour harangue about the evils of capitalism while we were asking for the check.
la catilinaria	fierce verbal attack (literary, alluding to Cicero)	El editorial era una catilinaria en toda regla contra la clase política. The editorial was a full-blown verbal assault against the political class.
la filípica	philippic, impassioned denunciation	Pronunció una filípica memorable contra la corrupción desde el estrado. She delivered a memorable philippic against corruption from the podium.
el disfemismo	dysphemism, deliberately harsh expression	Decir que alguien 'estiró la pata' en lugar de que 'falleció' es un disfemismo coloquial. Saying someone 'kicked the bucket' instead of 'passed away' is a colloquial dysphemism.
la antífrasis	antiphrasis, saying the opposite of what is meant	Llamar 'genio' a alguien que acaba de estrellar el coche es un caso clásico de antífrasis. Calling someone a 'genius' who just crashed the car is a classic case of antiphrasis.
la perífrasis eufemística	euphemistic circumlocution	Los políticos dominan la perífrasis eufemística para no decir nada con muchas palabras. Politicians master euphemistic circumlocution to say nothing with many words.
el doble sentido	double entendre, double meaning	La copla española está llena de dobles sentidos que hacían reír al público más recatado. Spanish folk songs are full of double meanings that made even the most prudish audience laugh.
el albur	wordplay with sexual double meaning (Lat. Am.)	En México, el albur es un arte verbal que requiere agilidad mental y descaro. In Mexico, the albur is a verbal art that requires mental agility and audacity.
el retruécano	pun, play on words by reversing terms	El retruécano 'no es lo mismo la ley del embudo que el embudo de la ley' arrancó carcajadas. The pun 'the law of the funnel isn't the same as the funnel of the law' drew roars of laughter.

Spanish C2 — Humor & Register Official

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