Let´s be honest, there’s no better way to express your appreciation for something than uttering an enthusiastic ‘awesome!’.
And if you’re planning on visiting Spain or any Latin American country, this useful little word is sure to come in handy.
I mean, how else are you going to describe the truly awesome experiences that await you?
Anyway, let´s get into the list!
KEY TAKEAWAYS
‘Awesome’ in more formal Spanish is generally expressed in the following ways –
- ‘Maravilloso’ (‘wonderful’ / ‘marvelous’) – La Gran Muralla de China es maravillosa = The Great Wall of China is marvelous
- ‘Genial’ (‘great’) – Está genial tu nuevo corte de cabello = Your new haircut looks great
- ‘Espléndido’ (‘splendid’) – La comida está espléndida = The food is splendid
- ‘Fantástico’ (‘fantastic’) – Tuve un cumpleaños fantástico = I had a fantastic birthday
There’s also slang specific to each region or country, such as ‘bacano’ (Colombia) or ‘a toda madre’ (Mexico).
These phrases are informal, but they´re far more common in everyday speech!
¡Está a toda madre, wey! = That’s pretty awesome, dude!
1 Chévere (Latin America)
‘Chévere’ is one of the most popular ways of saying ‘awesome’ in Latin America.
You´ll likely hear people from Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, and other Latin American countries throw a ‘¡qué chévere!’ (‘that´s awesome’) into conversation on the regular.
Marichuy – ¡Julián me pidió que fuéramos novios!
Alessia – ¡Qué chévere, Mari!
Marichuy – Julián asked me to be his girlfriend!
Alessia – That’s awesome, Mari!
2 Bacán / Bacano (Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Chile)
Got Colombian friends?
Then you’ve probably heard them describe something – or someone – as ‘bacano’ or ‘bacana’, and, well, it just means that they think the thing in question is pretty darn awesome!
Fun fact: ‘bacán’ actually comes from a Genoese word that originally meant ‘cane’. In the past rich men would walk around with canes, so people started using it to describe wealthy people.
It’s now used to talk about things that are nice, cool, or awesome!
Pam – Mira, te traje un sánduche* de salmón.
Armando – ¡Ah, bacano! ¡Mi favorito!
Pam – Look, I brought you a salmon sandwich.
Armando – Oh, awesome! My favorite!
*Erika’s note – In some Latin American countries sandwiches are called ‘sandúches’.
But there are actually MANY interesting words for this tasty snack.
Be sure to check out our article on all the different ways to say ‘sandwich’ in Spanish if you’d like to find out more … just be warned that you may well find yourself craving a good ol’ sarnie by the end!
3 A toda madre (Mexico)
This gem of a phrase is basically Mexico’s unique way of enshrining the awesomeness of moms through slang.
It may look like a weird phrase, but it´s just another synonym of ‘awesome’.
Regina – ¿Cómo te cayeron mis papás?
Davo – ¡Son a toda madre, wey!
Regina – Did you like my parents?
Davo – They’re awesome, dude!
Wanna know more about this fun Mexican slang term?
If so, head on over to our article on the various uses of ‘a toda madre’!
4 (Está) poca madre (Mexico)
Following the above logic, you might be thrown off guard by another Mexican expression: ‘está poca madre’ (literally ‘it’s of little mother’).
Believe it or not, it´s just another way of saying ‘that’s awesome’ … so definitely take it as a complement if your Mexican pals use it to describe your stuff!
Tu amigo mexicano ve tu nuevo auto
¡Está poca madre, wey! ¿Me vas a dar una vuelta?
Your Mexican friend sees your new car
That’s freaking awesome, bro! Are you gonna take me for a ride?
Erika´s note – you’ll also come across this expression with a ‘de‘ after the verb ‘estar‘ (i.e., ‘está de poca madre‘).
5 Está que te flipas / Está que flipas (Spain)
‘Flipar’ is a very common colloquialism in Spain, and also an Anglicism (that is, a word originally from English) derived from ‘to flip out’.
That’s right! The Spanish language adopted this term and made it a THING.
You’ll hear variations of this word thrown around quite often to describe something awesome, including ‘está que flipas’ (which means ‘it’s awesome’).
¡Tío, este nuevo filme está que flipas!
Dude, this new film is awesome!
6 (Está) de huevos (Mexico)
‘It’s <full> of eggs!’ is what you’d get if you were to literally translate this phrase to English, but it’s actually Mexican slang to describe something (yeah, you guessed it!) awesome.
In Mexico, saying ‘es fantástico’ doesn´t quite have the same feel as a wholehearted ‘está de huevos’.
Trust me, if you hear your Mexican friend saying this one out loud, it’s legit.
En una fiesta de cumpleaños
Paul – Espero te guste tu regalo …
Gabriel – ¡La nueva jersey (de la selección Mexicana)! ¡Está de huevos, wey!
At a birthday party
Paul – I hope you like your present …
Gabriel – The new jersey (of the Mexican football team)! It’s freaking awesome, bro!
7 A huevo (Mexico)
Similarly, the interjection ‘¡a huevo!’ is another Mexican slang term for ‘awesome!’.
What is it about eggs, you wonder?
Well, eggs are a euphemism for testicles in Spanish … but the tricky thing with ‘huevos’ is that it can have both good and bad connotations.
Doing something ‘a huevo’ means that you HAVE to do it, whereas ‘¡a huevo!’ as an interjection is always associated with excitement.
Andrea – ¡Me dieron el trabajo!
Linda – ¡A huevo! ¿Cuándo empiezas?
Andrea – I got the job!
Linda – Awesome! When do you start?
8 Joya (Argentina)
A ‘joya’ is a ‘jewel’ in Spanish, but it´s also Argentinian slang for ‘awesome!’.
Let’s be honest, this one makes a lot of sense … I mean sparkly jewels are pretty darn awesome (don´t ya´think?)!
¡Qué joya salir a la playa!
Going to the beach is awesome!
9 (Está) chingón (Mexico)
‘Chingón’ (or ‘chingona´) is Mexican slang for ‘cool’, ‘badass’ or ‘awesome’.
So, if you hear a Mexican utter an enthusiastic ‘está chingón’, it’s definitely something worthy of awe.
¿Ya escuchaste el nuevo album de Muse? ¡Está chingón!
Have you heard Muse’s new album? It’s awesome!
10 Guay (Spain)
Something ‘guay’ is basically something ‘cool’ in Spain.
This one´s a rather common expression and, depending on intonation, it can be used to describe things that are kinda nice and also something seriously awesome!
Cecilia – Voy a pasar el fin de semana en San Sebastián.
Rosa – Chica, ¡qué guay!
Cecilia – I’m spending the weekend in San Sebastian.
Rosa – Girl, that´s awesome!
Final thoughts
Now you’re all set to start describing things as ‘awesome’ in any part of the Spanish-speaking world.
Don’t hesitate to use the words listed above with your Spanish or Latin American friends, and if you encounter yourself in a more formal situations or feel a little shy, just use one of the more “formal” words (i.e., ‘genial’, ‘maravilloso’, etc.) instead.
Oh, and check out our article on ‘qué rollo’ if you´d like to sink your teeth into another super interesting (and useful!) Spanish phrase!
¡Hasta pronto!