semancol

Portuguese

Etymology

Blend of se mancar +‎ -ol, as in a medicine, usually in the expression tomar (chá de) semancol ― to drink “semancol” (tea).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /si.mɐ̃ˈkɔw/ [si.mɐ̃ˈkɔʊ̯]

• Rhymes: -ɔw
• Hyphenation: se‧man‧col

Noun

semancol m (uncountable)

1. (Brazil, colloquial) the ability to gauge one's own actions as appropriate or not; the ability of reading the room.

Further reading

• “semancol”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “semancol”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025