ensuciar
“ensuciar” means “to dirty” in Spanish. It has 2 different meanings depending on context:
to dirty, to soil
Also: to mess up
📝 In Action
No ensucies el suelo con los zapatos de fútbol.
A1Don't dirty the floor with your soccer shoes.
Los niños siempre ensucian su ropa cuando juegan en el parque.
A2Children always get their clothes dirty when they play in the park.
Si vas a cocinar, intenta no ensuciar toda la cocina.
B1If you're going to cook, try not to mess up the whole kitchen.
to tarnish, to stain
📝 In Action
Sus acciones ensuciaron la reputación de toda la familia.
B2His actions tarnished the reputation of the whole family.
No dejes que una mentira ensucie tu buen nombre.
C1Don't let a lie stain your good name.
Subjunctive
Imperfect Subjunctive
Present Subjunctive
Indicative
Preterite
Imperfect
Present
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✏️ Quick Practice
Quick Quiz: ensuciar
Question 1 of 3
Which sentence means 'I got dirty'?
📚 More Resources
👥 Word Family▼
📚 Etymology▼
Derived from the Latin word 'sucidus' (meaning juicy or greasy), which evolved into the Spanish 'sucio' (dirty). The prefix 'en-' was added to create the verb action of making something dirty.
First recorded: 13th century
Cognates (Related words)
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between 'manchar' and 'ensuciar'?
'Ensuciar' is more general (making something dirty overall), while 'manchar' usually refers to a specific spot or stain, like a drop of ink on a shirt.
Does 'ensuciar' always refer to physical dirt?
No, it can also be used figuratively to describe tarnishing someone's reputation or 'dirtying' a situation with bad behavior.
Is 'ensuciar' a regular verb?
Yes! It follows all the standard rules for verbs ending in -ar, making it very easy to conjugate.