Skip to content

pusakal

hardened or notorious

adjective pu-sa-KAL DERIVED Rare

From root: pusa

Usage Note

Pusakal is often used to describe habitual criminals or stray animals that have become wild and hardened. It conveys a sense of being deeply ingrained in a lifestyle or behavior.

Examples

Beginner

" Pusakal na siya ngayon. "

Natural Translation

He's hardened now.

Literal Translation

Hardened already he now.

Intermediate

" Ang pusakal na kriminal ay nahuli na. "

Natural Translation

The hardened criminal has been caught.

Literal Translation

The hardened criminal is caught already.

Advanced

" Kahit ilang beses na siyang nakulong, nanatili siyang pusakal na walang anumang pagsisisi sa kaniyang mga ginawa. "

Natural Translation

No matter how many times he's been jailed, he remained a hardened man with no remorse for what he did.

Literal Translation

Even how-many times already he was-jailed, remained he hardened that without any regret for his deeds.

Free · iOS & Android

Take Tagalog with you

The full course, a 12,500-word dictionary, and flashcards that make every word stick — free to start on iOS and Android.

Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.

How Tagalog words work

Word family

pusa has 2 related forms built from the same root.

See all

Explore Tagalog by topic

Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.