guastare

to ruin

verb gwahs-TAH-reh Rare

Origin: From Old French gaster (to waste, ruin), from Frankish *wastjan.

Also means

to spoil

Usage Note

Guastare takes avere as auxiliary: ha guastato la serata (he ruined the evening). The reflexive guastarsi means to break down or go bad: la macchina si è guastata (the car broke down), il latte si è guastato (the milk has gone bad). Do not confuse guastare with gustare (to taste/savour) — they differ by one vowel.

Examples

"La pioggia ha guastato i nostri piani per il picnic."

Natural Translation

The rain ruined our plans for the picnic.

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