🇪🇸Spanish Source WordCode: ES

pasar desapercibido para alguien

Pronunciation / Transliteration: pa-sar de-sa-per-ci-bi-do pa-ra al-guien

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Be lost on someone/biː lɒst ɒn ˈsʌm.wʌn/
verb phraseCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #8500 frequency
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🇪🇸 Example Sentence in Spanish:

"La sutileza del chiste pasó desapercibida para él."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As verb phrase
  1. 1

    To fail to be understood, appreciated, or noticed by a specific person.

    "The subtlety of her argument seemed to be lost on the exhausted audience."
  2. 2

    To fail to produce the intended effect or impression on someone.

    "His attempts at subtle sarcasm were completely lost on his literal-minded colleague."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The idiom combines the verb 'be', the past participle 'lost' originating from Old English 'losian' (to perish or go astray), and the preposition 'on' used to indicate affectation. Recorded in this metaphorical sense since the 18th century, it describes an abstract concept or subtle quality failing to reach its intended recipient's comprehension or appreciation.

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10 Global Lexicons: How "Be lost on someone" is said worldwide

Click any language below to open its dedicated Language to English dictionary page with native script & transliteration

🇫🇷French → English

échapper à quelqu'un

Transliteration: e-sha-pe a kel-kœ̃

"La finesse de son humour a échappé à tout le monde."

🇩🇪German → English

jemandem entgehen

Transliteration: ye-man-dem ent-gay-en

"Die Ironie der Situation ist ihm völlig entgangen."

🇮🇹Italian → English

sfuggire a qualcuno

Transliteration: sfud-djee-re a kwal-koo-no

"Il senso di quel discorso è sfuggito a tutti."

🇪🇸Spanish → English

pasar desapercibido para alguien

Transliteration: pa-sar de-sa-per-ci-bi-do pa-ra al-guien

"La sutileza del chiste pasó desapercibida para él."

🇵🇹Portuguese → English

passar despercebido a alguém

Transliteration: pa-sar des-per-ce-bi-do a al-guẽ

"A ironia da situação passou despercebida a ele."

🇮🇳Hindi → English

समझ में न आना

Transliteration: samajh mein na aana

"उसकी बात दर्शकों की समझ में बिल्कुल नहीं आई।"

🇨🇳Chinese → English

对某人不起作用 / 某人未能体会

Transliteration: duì mǒu rén bù qǐ zuò yòng

Script: 对某人不起作用

"他的讽刺幽默对她完全失去了意义。"

🇰🇷Korean → English

~에게 통하지 않다

Transliteration: ~ege tong-ha-ji an-ta

"그의 은근한 풍자는 그녀에게 전혀 전달되지 않았다."

🇯🇵Japanese → English

〜には通じない / 理解されない

Transliteration: ~ni wa tsuujinai / rikai sarenai

Script: 〜には通じない

"彼のユーモアは彼女には全く理解されなかった。"

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