huachafo
Short answer
In Lima, "huachafo" means tacky — trying to look classier than it is. The register is coloquial — fine among friends, out of place in a job interview or anything written to an institution. The standard Spanish equivalent is "cursi, de mal gusto". In use: La decoración quedó un poco huachafa.
| Part of speech | adjetivo |
|---|---|
| Register | coloquial |
| Standard Spanish | cursi, de mal gusto |
| In use | La decoración quedó un poco huachafa. The decoration came out a bit tacky. |
Draft entry — needs a native-speaker check before publishing.
One of the most Peruvian words on this list and hard to translate. It is not simply ugly — it is the specific tackiness of aiming at elegance and missing. Cursi is the nearest standard word and misses the class element entirely.