Italian word of the day
Pronunciation | |
English translation | Not at all, as if, no way |
Macché in Italian is a common and informal interjection that has no direct translation into English. Because it emphasizes a negative statement, we could translate it as “as if” or “not at all”.
Examples
Luca si è ricordato di portarti le chiavi? – Macché! | Did Luca remember to bring you the keys? – Not at all! |
Siete andati a fare spesa? – Macché, non siamo nemmeno usciti di casa. | Did you go shopping for groceries? – As if, we have not even left the house. |
Avete mangiato bene? – Macché! C’era un capello nel mio piatto! | Did you eat well? – No way! There was a hair on my plate! |

Using macché in Italian
Macché can be used alone as an exclamation.
Luca si è alzato? – Macché! | Did Luca get up? – Nope! |
Hai finito il lavoro? – Macché! Ci vorranno ancora molte ore. | Have you finished the work? – No way, it will take several more hours. |
If you want to emphasize the object or the verb you want to negate, you can use macché followed by the object/verb.
Hai un minuto di tempo? – Macché un minuto, non ho nemmeno un secondo! | Do you have a minute to spare? – Not a minute at all, I don’t even have a second! |
Vuoi cenare al ristorante stasera? – Macché cenare al ristorante, ci sono un sacco di avanzi nel frigo! | Do you want to have dinner at a restaurant tonight? – No way we are dining at the restaurant, there are lots of leftovers in the fridge! |
Prendo 20 euro, dovrebbero bastare. – Macché 20 euro, prendine almeno 50! | I’ll take 20 euros, that should be enough. – Don’t take 20 euros, take at least 50 euros! |

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