Dar mala espina
To give a bad thorn.
to give someone a bad feeling; **to give someone a bad feeling**; **to seem suspicious**; **to make someone uneasy**; **to set alarm bells ringing**; **to not feel right**
Dar mala espina means to give someone a bad feeling, to seem suspicious, to make someone uneasy, to set alarm bells ringing, or to make someone distrustful.
Ese hombre me da mala espina.
That man gives me a bad feeling.
Hay algo en este negocio que me da mala espina.
There's something suspicious about this deal.
Desde el principio me dio mala espina.
I had a bad feeling about it from the beginning.
Ese hotel me dio muy mala espina y nos fuimos.
That hotel made me feel uneasy, so we left.
It refers to an instinctive feeling that something is wrong, even without clear evidence.
- someone seems untrustworthy
- a situation feels suspicious
- something appears too good to be true
- a place feels unsafe
- intuition suggests that something is wrong
Like so much idiomatic language, it distils an everyday observation into a memorable phrase.
Traditionally, espina has been associated with discomfort, pain or something that "sticks" unpleasantly.
From this symbolic association developed the figurative idea of an uncomfortable intuition or instinctive suspicion.
Today, speakers understand the expression as referring to a bad feeling rather than to any literal thorn.
The expression refers to intuition, not proof.
Someone may dar mala espina even though they have done nothing objectively wrong.
For this reason, the idiom often appears when people talk about first impressions or instinctive distrust.
Spanish distinguishes between positive and negative intuition:
- Dar mala espina → to give a bad feeling.
- Dar buena espina → to inspire confidence or trust.
- Tener un presentimiento → to have a premonition.
- Olerse algo → to suspect that something is happening.
Among them, dar mala espina is by far the most common in everyday conversation and is often used to explain why someone decides to be cautious even before having any concrete evidence.
Do not translate the expression literally.
English speakers would never say:
He gives me a bad thorn.
Instead, use expressions such as:
- He gives me a bad feeling.
- Something doesn't feel right.
- She seems suspicious.
- It sets alarm bells ringing.
Choose the translation according to whether the emphasis is on intuition or suspicion.
There are five hundred more.
The complete collection — no ads, on paper or Kindle.
Get the book on Amazon