caer mal

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaˌeɾ ˈmal/ [kaˌeɾ ˈmal]
• Syllabification: ca‧er mal

Verb

caer mal (first-person singular present caigo mal, first-person singular preterite caí mal, past participle caído mal)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) to be disagreeable, make a bad (or not so good) impression (a person)

   Synonyms: caer gordo, caer pesado

   Antonyms: caer bien, agradar, simpatizar

   Arnoldo siempre ha caído mal

   Arnoldo always has been unpleasant (to people)

   Les caigo mal a tus padres

   I don't please your parents

2. (transitive, idiomatic) to make for or cause a bad digestion (food)

   Synonym: caer de peso

   Antonyms: caer bien, hacer buen provecho

   La sandía me cae mal en la noche

   watermelon results in a bad digestion for me by night

3. (transitive, idiomatic) to make unhappy or sad, to anger, to dissatisfy (news, advice, announcement)

   Synonym: caer de peso

   Antonym: caer bien

   La noticia le cayó mal al jefe, y está de mal humor

   The advice made the boss unhappy, and he's in a bad mood

Usage notes

• See caer bien.

See also

• desagrado
• antipatía
• antipático, antipática
• sangrón
• pesado
• disgustar

Further reading

• “caer mal alguien”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10