Skip to content

perduto

lost

adjective per-DOO-toh Less Common
Descriptions & Qualities Conditions

Also means

ruined; hopeless

Usage Note

Perduto is the literary/formal past participle of perdere used as an adjective; everyday speech more often uses perso. Perduto carries a stronger, often irreversible sense: un'anima perduta ('a lost soul'), causa perduta ('lost cause'). When used predicatively after essere in compound tenses, both perso and perduto are accepted.

Examples

"Si sentiva perduto in quella città sconosciuta."

Natural Translation

He felt lost in that unfamiliar city.

Literal Translation

Himself he-felt lost in that city unknown.

Free starter pack

Building your Italian vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Italian words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Italian by topic