Skip to content

sosyal

sosyál with stress marks

social

adjective sos-YAL Spanish origin Less Common

Usage Note

Sosyal is borrowed from Spanish 'social' but in Filipino colloquial usage has shifted to describe someone who is upper-class, fashionable, or showy. It is frequently used with a teasing or admiring tone to suggest that someone is putting on airs or genuinely moving in elite circles.

Examples

Beginner

" Sosyal ang damit niya. "

Natural Translation

Her clothes are classy.

Literal Translation

Classy the clothes her.

Intermediate

" Pumunta siya sa isang sosyal na pagtitipon. "

Natural Translation

He/she went to a social gathering.

Literal Translation

Went he/she to a social gathering.

Advanced

" Bagaman simpleng tao siya, biglang naging sosyal ang ugali nang makapasok sa kompanyang puno ng mayayaman. "

Natural Translation

Although she was a simple person, her manners suddenly became high-class once she got into a company full of wealthy people.

Literal Translation

Although simple person she, suddenly became high-class the manner when got-in to company full of wealthy.

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

Explore Tagalog by topic

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