Learn Romanian › strica

strica

to spoil, damage, or break /striˈka/

verb#1040 most common

Also: to ruin (a plan, mood, relationship), to go bad (of food, reflexive), to break down (of a machine, reflexive)

Example sentences

Copilul a stricat jucăria.
The child broke the toy.
Nu strica atmosfera cu vești proaste.
Don't spoil the mood with bad news.
Carnea s-a stricat pentru că am uitat-o afară din frigider.
The meat went bad because I forgot it outside the fridge.
Dacă continui așa, o să strici totul.
If you keep this up, you'll ruin everything.
Zvonurile acelea i-au stricat reputația în tot orașul.
Those rumors ruined his reputation across the whole town.
Deși știa că îi va strica relația cu familia, a spus adevărul.
Even though she knew it would damage her relationship with her family, she told the truth.

Conjugation

Present ActiveSimple Past ActiveSimple Future Active
1sgstricstricaivoi strica
2sgstricistricașivei strica
3sgstricăstricăva strica
1plstricămstricarămvom strica
2plstricațistricarățiveți strica
3plstricăstricarăvor strica

Word family

stricăciunedamage, harm
stricatspoiled, broken, corrupt
nestricatunspoiled, undamaged
a se stricato go bad, to break down (reflexive)

Etymology

Romanian dictionaries trace "strica" to the Latin verb "extricare", which originally meant to free something from a tangle or difficulty. In popular Latin the word drifted toward the opposite sense, damage or ruin, and that is the meaning Romanian inherited. The shift shows how a verb about untangling trouble can end up meaning the trouble itself.

Learn Romanian the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,027 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free

More Romanian words

arestato arrestexcelentexcellentscoppurpose, goalrezistato resist, to withstandpistolpistolincredibilincrediblesfântholy, sacredpaistraw