Gnorri

NOUN [invariable]

Meaning and English translation 🔖

Fake dumb
🇬🇧 Used only in the expression "fare lo gnorri": to pretend not to understand or to ignore something.
🇮🇹 Usato solo nell'espressione "fare lo gnorri": fingere di non capire o di ignorare qualcosa.

Masculine ♂️ Feminine ♀️
Singular lo - uno gnorri la - una gnorri
Plural gli - degli gnorri le - delle gnorri


Example sentences 💬

Non fate gli gnorri, so che avete sentito quello che ho detto!
Don't play dumb, I know you heard what I said!
Quando gli ho chiesto dei soldi che mi deve, ha fatto lo gnorri.
When I asked him about the money he owes me, he played dumb.


Where does the word gnorri come from? 🔎

Gnorri derives from the verb ignorare [to ignore], particularly from the no longer used form gnoro.

The word was formed by replacing the final -o with an -i, typical of Italian surnames, thus creating a personification of ignorance.

Gnorri is not a simple synonym for ignorant, but specifically represents someone who pretends not to know or understand. It's as if Gnorri were the surname of an imaginary character, the embodiment of feigned ignorance: "Mr. Gnorri", the archetype of the fake fool.


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