Furbo
ADJECTIVE/NOUN
Meaning and English translation 🔖
1. Clever, smart
🇬🇧 Someone who can act quickly and shrewdly to gain advantages or avoid problems.
🇮🇹 Chi sa agire con prontezza e scaltrezza per ottenere vantaggi o evitare problemi.
2. Cunning, sly (pejorative)
🇬🇧 Someone who acts cunningly for personal gain, sometimes dishonestly.
🇮🇹 Chi agisce in modo astuto per il proprio tornaconto, talvolta in modo disonesto.
| Masculine ♂️ | Feminine ♀️ | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | Furbo | Furba |
| Plural | Furbi | Furbe |
Example sentences 💬
Che mossa furba! Hai vinto la partita con una strategia inaspettata.
What a clever move! You won the game with an unexpected strategy.
Luigi è un ragazzo furbo, riesce sempre a cavarsela.
Luigi is a cunning boy, he always knows how to get by.
Luisa è furba, ha trovato un modo per finire il lavoro prima del previsto.
Luisa is smart, she found a way to finish the work ahead of schedule.
I politici furbi promettono mari e monti prima delle elezioni.
Sly politicians promise the earth before the elections.
Attenti ai venditori ambulanti furbi: a volte vendono merce contraffatta.
Beware of sly street vendors: sometimes they sell counterfeit goods.
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Idioms with furbo 🇮🇹
Fare il furbo
→ To play dumb / To act smart
Non fare il furbo con me! So cosa hai combinato.
Don't play dumb with me! I know what you've been up to.
Farsi furbo
→ To wise up
Dopo quella brutta esperienza, si è fatta furba.
After that bad experience, she wisened up.
Furbo come una volpe
→ As cunning as a fox
Stai attento a lui, è furbo come una volpe.
Watch out for him, he's as cunning as a fox.
Furbo matricolato
→ A certified slyboots / A real cunning character (Someone who has a "degree" in cunning.)
Non fidarti di lui, è un furbo matricolato.
Don't trust him, he's a real cunning character.
Furbata
→ (cunning) trick
Bella furbata! Hai nascosto i dolci per mangiarli da solo?
Nice trick! Did you hide the sweets to eat them all by yourself?
Furbacchione
→ A slyboots (affectionate, often used playfully or ironically)
Ah, furbacchione! Pensavi di fregarmi, eh?
Ah, you slyboots! You thought you could fool me, eh?
Furbo di tre cotte*
→ Very cunning / Extremely sly (literal, three times cooked)
Non lo freghi facilmente, è un furbo di tre cotte!
You won't fool him easily, he's extremely sly!
*no longer commonly used
Where does the word furbo come from? 🔎
Furbo comes from French fourbe (thief, deceiver), but its origins have been debated among scholars. The two most credited theories suggest that furbo derives from:
- German färben (to dye, to color), suggesting that furbo might have originally referred to someone "of many colors", thus versatile or changeable;
- Latin fur (thief).
The word has been documented in Italian since 1484, initially meaning "wrongdoer" (no longer commonly used). Over time, its meaning evolved to indicate a shrewd and clever person.
Did you know that... 🤓
Impress your italian friends with curious facts about Italy and its culture
Why do we say "as clever as a fox"?
The association between foxes and cleverness has ancient origins. The first evidence dates back to Aesop's fables (6th century BC), where the fox is always portrayed as a cunning and ingenious animal. The most famous is probably "The Fox and the Grapes," where the fox, unable to reach the high grapes, leaves saying they were sour anyway - which also gave us the expression "to do like the fox with the grapes."
This association was strengthened throughout Europe during the Middle Ages by the "Roman de Renart," a cycle of French stories in which the protagonist is a fox named Renart (from which comes the Italian "Leonardo" for fox). In these stories, Renart always manages to get by thanks to his cunning, often deceiving the wolf Ysengrin.
In Italian folklore, the fox is featured in numerous fairy tales and popular proverbs. Unlike in other cultures, where it might have a negative connotation, being "as clever as a fox" is not necessarily an insult in Italy: it can indicate admiration for those who know how to use their wit to solve difficult situations.
