tuerto

Asturian

Adjective

tuerto

1. neuter of tuertu

Ladino

Alternative forms

• tugerto, tuguerto

Etymology

From Old Spanish, from Latin tortus (“twisted”).

Adjective

tuerto (feminine tuerta, masculine plural tuertos, feminine plural tuertas)

1. crooked
2. twisted
3. distorted

   Arvolé tuerto nunka se enderecha.

   A crooked tree never straightens itself.

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Latin tortus (“twisted”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtweɾto/ [ˈt̪weɾ.t̪o]
• Rhymes: -eɾto
• Syllabification: tuer‧to

Adjective

tuerto (feminine tuerta, masculine plural tuertos, feminine plural tuertas)

1. one-eyed, blind in one eye

   Coordinate term: ciego

   • 1914, Emilia Pardo Bazán, Las Medias Rojas:

     Como que el médico, consultado tarde y de mala gana, según es uso de labriegos, habló de un desprendimiento de la retina, cosa que no entendió la muchacha, pero que consistía... en quedarse tuerta.¶Y nunca más el barco la recibió en sus concavidades para llevarla hacia nuevos horizontes de holganza y lujo. Los que allá vayan, han de ir sanos, válidos, y las mujeres, con sus ojos alumbrando y su dentadura completa

     Such as the doctor, consulted late and grudgingly, as is the custom among peasants, spoke of a detached retina, something the girl did not understand, but it consisted... of becoming blind in one eye.¶And never again did the boat receive her in her concavities to bring her to new horizons of rest and luxury. Those that go there, have to go healthy, valid, and the women, with their eyes luminous and set of teeth complete.

Derived terms

• chino tuerto
• desconfiado como gallo tuerto
• desconfiado como mula tuerta

Noun

tuerto m (plural tuertos, feminine tuerta, feminine plural tuertas)

1. one-eyed person (someone blind in one eye)
2. tort, injury, offense
3. someone who is thought to bring bad luck to a person they see; evil eye

Usage notes

• In Spanish, if someone experiences bad luck, it can be said that a tuerto (“one-eyed person”) has seen them. So common expressions such as te ha mirado un tuerto (literally “a one-eyed person has seen you”) or me miró un tuerto (literally “a one-eyed person saw me”) could be translated as "what rotten luck" or "I/He/She was jinxed".

Derived terms

• en el reino de los ciegos, el tuerto es el rey

Related terms

• torcer
• torta
• tortura

Further reading

• “tuerto”, 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