acicalar

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic صَقَلَ (ṣaqala).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aθikaˈlaɾ/ [a.θi.kaˈlaɾ] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /asikaˈlaɾ/ [a.si.kaˈlaɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: a‧ci‧ca‧lar

Verb

acicalar (first-person singular present acicalo, first-person singular preterite acicalé, past participle acicalado)

1. (transitive) to groom
2. (transitive) to polish, to preen
3. (reflexive) to smarten oneself up, to preen oneself, to spruce up oneself

Conjugation

    Conjugation of acicalar (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			acicalar
gerund			acicalando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		acicalado		acicalada
		plural		acicalados		acicaladas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	acicalo	acicalastú acicalásvos	acicala	acicalamos	acicaláis	acicalan
	imperfect	acicalaba	acicalabas	acicalaba	acicalábamos	acicalabais	acicalaban
	preterite	acicalé	acicalaste	acicaló	acicalamos	acicalasteis	acicalaron
	future	acicalaré	acicalarás	acicalará	acicalaremos	acicalaréis	acicalarán
	conditional	acicalaría	acicalarías	acicalaría	acicalaríamos	acicalaríais	acicalarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	acicale	acicalestú acicalésvos2	acicale	acicalemos	acicaléis	acicalen
	imperfect (ra)	acicalara	acicalaras	acicalara	acicaláramos	acicalarais	acicalaran
	imperfect (se)	acicalase	acicalases	acicalase	acicalásemos	acicalaseis	acicalasen
	future1	acicalare	acicalares	acicalare	acicaláremos	acicalareis	acicalaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		acicalatú acicalávos	acicale	acicalemos	acicalad	acicalen
	negative		no acicales	no acicale	no acicalemos	no acicaléis	no acicalen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of acicalar

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive acicalar	dative	acicalarme	acicalarte	acicalarle, acicalarse	acicalarnos	acicalaros	acicalarles, acicalarse
	accusative	acicalarme	acicalarte	acicalarlo, acicalarla, acicalarse	acicalarnos	acicalaros	acicalarlos, acicalarlas, acicalarse
with gerund acicalando	dative	acicalándome	acicalándote	acicalándole, acicalándose	acicalándonos	acicalándoos	acicalándoles, acicalándose
	accusative	acicalándome	acicalándote	acicalándolo, acicalándola, acicalándose	acicalándonos	acicalándoos	acicalándolos, acicalándolas, acicalándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative acicala	dative	acicálame	acicálate	acicálale	acicálanos	not used	acicálales
	accusative	acicálame	acicálate	acicálalo, acicálala	acicálanos	not used	acicálalos, acicálalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative acicalá	dative	acicalame	acicalate	acicalale	acicalanos	not used	acicalales
	accusative	acicalame	acicalate	acicalalo, acicalala	acicalanos	not used	acicalalos, acicalalas
with formal second-person singular imperative acicale	dative	acicáleme	not used	acicálele, acicálese	acicálenos	not used	acicáleles
	accusative	acicáleme	not used	acicálelo, acicálela, acicálese	acicálenos	not used	acicálelos, acicálelas
with first-person plural imperative acicalemos	dative	not used	acicalémoste	acicalémosle	acicalémonos	acicalémoos	acicalémosles
	accusative	not used	acicalémoste	acicalémoslo, acicalémosla	acicalémonos	acicalémoos	acicalémoslos, acicalémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative acicalad	dative	acicaladme	not used	acicaladle	acicaladnos	acicalaos	acicaladles
	accusative	acicaladme	not used	acicaladlo, acicaladla	acicaladnos	acicalaos	acicaladlos, acicaladlas
with formal second-person plural imperative acicalen	dative	acicálenme	not used	acicálenle	acicálennos	not used	acicálenles, acicálense
	accusative	acicálenme	not used	acicálenlo, acicálenla	acicálennos	not used	acicálenlos, acicálenlas, acicálense

Derived terms

• acicaladura
• acicalamiento
• acicalarse

Further reading

• “acicalar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024