carca

See also: çarça

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish carca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [ˈkar.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈkaɾ.ka]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ˈkar.ka]

Noun

carca m or f by sense (plural carques)

1. (derogatory) Carlist

   Synonym: carlí

2. (by extension) reactionary, narrow-minded person

Adjective

carca m or f (masculine and feminine plural carques)

1. reactionary

   Viuen en una presó de idees carques.

   They live in a prison of reactionary ideas.

Further reading

• “carca”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “carca”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “carca”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkar.ka/
• Rhymes: -arka
• Hyphenation: càr‧ca

Adjective

carca

1. feminine singular of carco

Portuguese

Verb

carca

1. inflection of carcar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Spanish cárcamo

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Spanish -al

Spanish carcamalclip.

Spanish carca

Clipping of carcamal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾka/ [ˈkaɾ.ka]
• Rhymes: -aɾka
• Syllabification: car‧ca

Adjective

carca m or f (masculine and feminine plural carcas)

1. (Spain, derogatory) narrow-minded, reactionary

   Synonym: reaccionario

   • 2023 March 2, Estefanía Molina, “Usar condón se ha vuelto ‘carca’”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Cómo viran las sociedades, que hoy ponerse el condón parece carca, restrictivo de los placeres carnales, cuando antaño daba libertad al salvar tantas vidas humildes.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Noun

carca m or f by sense (plural carcas)

1. (Spain, derogatory) narrow-minded person, reactionary
   • 2005 March 20, Karmentxu Marín, quoting Emilio Butragueño, “Un jovencito diría que soy un carca”, in El País:

     R. […] Yo creo que tener una familia unida es una bendición. La familia es clave.
     P. ¿Se considera carca?
     R. Ehhh… Tradicional. Son maneras de hablar. Un jovencito diría que soy un carca.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• → Catalan: carca

See also

• carroza (informal)
• pollavieja (informal, neologism)

Further reading

• “carca”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025