Spasso
NOUN [masculine]
Meaning and English translation 🔖
Fun, Amusement
🇬🇧 Entertainment, pleasant pastime.
🇮🇹 Divertimento, passatempo piacevole.
Example sentences 💬
È stato uno spasso guardare i bambini giocare con le bolle di sapone.
It was fun watching the children play with soap bubbles.
Quella comica è proprio uno spasso: mi fa morire dal ridere!
That comedian is really amusing: she makes me die of laughter!
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Idioms with spasso 🇮🇹
Andare a spasso
→ To go for a walk / To roam / To do nothing
Dopo pranzo vado spesso a spasso in centro.
After lunch, I often go for a walk in the city center.
Essere a spasso
→ To be out and about
Oggi sono a spasso per il centro, vuoi unirti?
I'm out and about in the city center today, want to join?
→ To be unemployed
È a spasso da tre mesi e non trova lavoro.
He's been unemployed for three months and can't find a job.
Portare a spasso
→ To take for a walk
Porto spesso a spasso mia nonna, le fa bene camminare.
I often take my grandmother for a walk, walking is good for her.
Restare/Rimanere a spasso
→ To be out of work
È rimasta a spasso per tutto l'inverno.
She was out of work all winter.
Trovarsi a spasso
→ To find oneself unemployed
Dopo la chiusura dell'azienda si è trovato a spasso.
After the company closed, he found himself unemployed.
Mandare a spasso
→ To fire someone / To send someone away
Il capo l'ha mandato a spasso dopo l'ennesimo ritardo.
The boss fired him after yet another delay.
Prendersi spasso di qualcuno
→ To make fun of someone
Non mi piace quando ti prendi spasso di lui.
I don't like it when you make fun of him.
Spassoso
→ Amusing, entertaining
Ho letto un libro spassoso, non riuscivo a smettere di ridere.
I read such an entertaining book, I couldn't stop laughing.
NB: spassoso is an adjective derived from spasso.
Where does the word spasso come from? 🔎
Spasso comes from the verb spassare (13th century), meaning “to have fun or to distract oneself”. This verb comes from Latin expandere (to expand, to widen), with the idea of expanding the soul, thus relieving it from worries.
