Spanish word

espabilar

Pronunciation

IPA/espaβiˈlaɾ/

Meaning

  • verbget your act together

Example

Si no te espabilas ahora, perderás la oportunidad.

If you don't get your act together now, you'll lose the opportunity.

Illustration for espabilar (get your act together)

More examples

¡Espabila, que el tren sale ya!

Wake up, the train's leaving now!

Core concept

A person suddenly alert and ready to act.

Common phrases

  • espabilarse por la mañana

    wake up in the morning

  • espabilar a alguien

    wake someone up

  • espabilarse rápido

    become alert quickly

Similar words

espabilarse: Quickly focuses attention and readies oneself to act.
reaccionar: Responds immediately to an external stimulus with action or reply.

Definition in Spanish

Volverse más atento y rápido en la reacción para dejar de estar despistado o adormilado; frecuentemente pronominal y de uso coloquial.

Word origin

The verb derives from the prefix es- plus dialectal pabilar 'to stimulate', originally meaning to rouse someone into alertness.

Usage tips

  • Used colloquially and often reflexively as espabilarse, and the adjective espabilado can be either praise or sarcasm depending on context.

Other meanings

  • wake upverb
  • become alertverb

Opposites

  • adormecersedoze offverb
  • dormirsefall asleepverb

Related words

  • espabiladoalertadjective

Word lists with this word