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fregare

to rub

verb freh-GAH-reh Rare

Also means

to cheat; not to care (colloquial)

Usage Note

Fregare is highly versatile in spoken Italian. Literally it means to rub or scrub, but colloquially fregare qualcuno means to cheat or swindle someone, and the reflexive fregarsene means to not care at all: me ne frego ('I don't give a damn'). The latter is informal to the point of rudeness in formal contexts. Auxiliary is avere.

Examples

"Mi ha fregato dieci euro."

Natural Translation

He cheated me out of ten euros.

Literal Translation

To-me he-has cheated ten euros.

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