Italian word of the day
Scroccone describes someone who’s stingy or tight-fisted with money, someone who takes advantage of others by getting things for free without paying their fair share.
| Pronunciation | |
| English translation | Freeloader, moocher |
| Origin | From the Italian verb scroccare, “to freeload” or “to sponge off others”; scroccare comes from crocco, which is a sort of hook. Crocco was also used to describe a crossbow’s cog |
There is also a feminine version, scroccona.
Different forms of scroccone
Like most nouns in Italian, scroccone has two articles (definite or indefinite articles) and two numbers (singular or plural).
Uno scroccone
A freeloader
Degli scrocconi
Some freeloaders
Lo scroccone
The freeloader
Gli scrocconi
The freeloaders
Examples
| Alessandra è una scroccona. | Alessandra is a freeloader. |
| Ho un collega che è famoso per essere uno scroccone. | I have a colleague who is famous for being a freeloader. |
| Quel tipo è proprio uno scroccone, non paga mai il caffè. | The guy is such a freeloader, he never pays for coffee. |
| Gli scrocconi non sono ben accetti alle feste. | Freeloaders are not welcome at parties. |
You can say andare a scrocco, “to freeload” or “to mooch”.
| Lorenzo va a scrocco a spese dei suoi amici. Fa spesso finta di aver lasciato il portafoglio a casa. | Lorenzo freeloads at the expense of his friends. He often pretends to have left his wallet at home. |
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