Where it is said
- the Northeast· strongly associated
- Pernambuco· strongly associated
- Ceará· more common here
- Bahia· more common here
How it is used
The all-purpose Northeastern intensifier of approval — a show, a meal or a person can be arretado. Beware the two other senses Priberam records: 'arretado' also means furious, and in informal Brazilian usage it can mean sexually aroused, so intonation and context matter.
Examples
O show de ontem foi arretado!
The show last night was awesome!
Aquele cara é arretado tocando violão.
That guy is amazing at playing guitar.
Meu pai ficou arretado quando viu minha nota.
My dad was furious when he saw my grade.
Practise “arretado” in context
Hear it, use it in a sentence and get corrected — Falando’s Real Talk and Idioms Trainer are built for words like this. Free for 7 days.
Sources cited on this page
Sources: Priberam — arretado · tier 2; Aulete — arretado · tier 2; Janelas Abertas — Gírias recifenses: aprenda esse vocabulário arretado · tier 4