serpentear

Portuguese

Etymology

From serpente +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /seʁ.pẽ.teˈa(ʁ)/ [seh.pẽ.teˈa(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /seʁ.pẽ.teˈa(ʁ)/ [seh.pẽ.teˈa(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /seɾ.pẽ.teˈa(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /seʁ.pẽ.teˈa(ʁ)/ [seχ.pẽ.teˈa(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /seɻ.pẽ.teˈa(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾ.pẽˈtjaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾ.pẽˈtjaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾ.pẽˈtja.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: ser‧pen‧te‧ar

Verb

serpentear (first-person singular present serpenteio, first-person singular preterite serpenteei, past participle serpenteado)

1. (intransitive) to snake (move in a winding path)
2. (intransitive) to meander (have a winding course)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of serpentear (e becomes ei when stressed) (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	serpentear
Personal	serpentear	serpenteares	serpentear	serpentearmos	serpenteardes	serpentearem
Gerund
	serpenteando
Past participle
Masculine	serpenteado			serpenteados
Feminine	serpenteada			serpenteadas
Indicative
Present	serpenteio	serpenteias	serpenteia	serpenteamos	serpenteais	serpenteiam
Imperfect	serpenteava	serpenteavas	serpenteava	serpenteávamos	serpenteáveis	serpenteavam
Preterite	serpenteei	serpenteaste	serpenteou	serpenteamos1, serpenteámos2	serpenteastes	serpentearam
Pluperfect	serpenteara	serpentearas	serpenteara	serpenteáramos	serpenteáreis	serpentearam
Future	serpentearei	serpentearás	serpenteará	serpentearemos	serpenteareis	serpentearão
Conditional	serpentearia	serpentearias	serpentearia	serpentearíamos	serpentearíeis	serpenteariam
Subjunctive
Present	serpenteie	serpenteies	serpenteie	serpenteemos	serpenteeis	serpenteiem
Imperfect	serpenteasse	serpenteasses	serpenteasse	serpenteássemos	serpenteásseis	serpenteassem
Future	serpentear	serpenteares	serpentear	serpentearmos	serpenteardes	serpentearem
Imperative
Affirmative		serpenteia	serpenteie	serpenteemos	serpenteai	serpenteiem
Negative (não)		não serpenteies	não serpenteie	não serpenteemos	não serpenteeis	não serpenteiem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Further reading

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

Spanish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seɾpenteˈaɾ/ [seɾ.pẽn̪.t̪eˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: ser‧pen‧te‧ar

Verb

serpentear (first-person singular present serpenteo, first-person singular preterite serpenteé, past participle serpenteado)

1. (intransitive) to wind; to meander; to go like a serpent

   Synonym: culebrear

2. (intransitive) to wriggle

   Synonym: culebrear

Conjugation

    Conjugation of serpentear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			serpentear
gerund			serpenteando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		serpenteado		serpenteada
		plural		serpenteados		serpenteadas
		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	serpenteo	serpenteastú serpenteásvos	serpentea	serpenteamos	serpenteáis	serpentean
	imperfect	serpenteaba	serpenteabas	serpenteaba	serpenteábamos	serpenteabais	serpenteaban
	preterite	serpenteé	serpenteaste	serpenteó	serpenteamos	serpenteasteis	serpentearon
	future	serpentearé	serpentearás	serpenteará	serpentearemos	serpentearéis	serpentearán
	conditional	serpentearía	serpentearías	serpentearía	serpentearíamos	serpentearíais	serpentearían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	serpentee	serpenteestú serpenteésvos2	serpentee	serpenteemos	serpenteéis	serpenteen
	imperfect (ra)	serpenteara	serpentearas	serpenteara	serpenteáramos	serpentearais	serpentearan
	imperfect (se)	serpentease	serpenteases	serpentease	serpenteásemos	serpenteaseis	serpenteasen
	future1	serpenteare	serpenteares	serpenteare	serpenteáremos	serpenteareis	serpentearen
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		serpenteatú serpenteávos	serpentee	serpenteemos	serpentead	serpenteen
	negative		no serpentees	no serpentee	no serpenteemos	no serpenteéis	no serpenteen

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

    Selected combined forms of serpentear

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 serpentear	dative	serpentearme	serpentearte	serpentearle, serpentearse	serpentearnos	serpentearos	serpentearles, serpentearse
	accusative	serpentearme	serpentearte	serpentearlo, serpentearla, serpentearse	serpentearnos	serpentearos	serpentearlos, serpentearlas, serpentearse
with gerund serpenteando	dative	serpenteándome	serpenteándote	serpenteándole, serpenteándose	serpenteándonos	serpenteándoos	serpenteándoles, serpenteándose
	accusative	serpenteándome	serpenteándote	serpenteándolo, serpenteándola, serpenteándose	serpenteándonos	serpenteándoos	serpenteándolos, serpenteándolas, serpenteándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative serpentea	dative	serpentéame	serpentéate	serpentéale	serpentéanos	not used	serpentéales
	accusative	serpentéame	serpentéate	serpentéalo, serpentéala	serpentéanos	not used	serpentéalos, serpentéalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative serpenteá	dative	serpenteame	serpenteate	serpenteale	serpenteanos	not used	serpenteales
	accusative	serpenteame	serpenteate	serpentealo, serpenteala	serpenteanos	not used	serpentealos, serpentealas
with formal second-person singular imperative serpentee	dative	serpentéeme	not used	serpentéele, serpentéese	serpentéenos	not used	serpentéeles
	accusative	serpentéeme	not used	serpentéelo, serpentéela, serpentéese	serpentéenos	not used	serpentéelos, serpentéelas
with first-person plural imperative serpenteemos	dative	not used	serpenteémoste	serpenteémosle	serpenteémonos	serpenteémoos	serpenteémosles
	accusative	not used	serpenteémoste	serpenteémoslo, serpenteémosla	serpenteémonos	serpenteémoos	serpenteémoslos, serpenteémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative serpentead	dative	serpenteadme	not used	serpenteadle	serpenteadnos	serpenteaos	serpenteadles
	accusative	serpenteadme	not used	serpenteadlo, serpenteadla	serpenteadnos	serpenteaos	serpenteadlos, serpenteadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative serpenteen	dative	serpentéenme	not used	serpentéenle	serpentéennos	not used	serpentéenles, serpentéense
	accusative	serpentéenme	not used	serpentéenlo, serpentéenla	serpentéennos	not used	serpentéenlos, serpentéenlas, serpentéense

Related terms

• serpiente

Further reading

• “serpentear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025