apretado

Apretado is an adjective used in Spanish and Portuguese to express tightness, confinement, or constraint. It can describe physical fit, such as clothing or spaces, as well as more abstract notions like time, schedules, or finances. The sense is broadly similar in both languages: something that is pressed closely or restricted.

Etymology and related forms: In both languages, apre­tar (Spanish) and apertar (Portuguese) derive from Latin premere, meaning to press. Over time these verbs developed the sense of making something tight or crowded, which then extended to adjectives such as apretado/apertado to describe tightness or constraint.

Spanish usage: Apretado commonly describes tight clothing, for example, "camisa apretada" or "zapatos apretados." It can refer to crowded places, as in "un pasillo apretado de gente." It is also used for tight schedules or budgets, e.g., "horario apretado" or "presupuesto apretado." In idiomatic expression, one may encounter "apretar los dientes," meaning to grit one’s teeth or endure a difficult situation.

Portuguese usage: In Portuguese, apertado similarly covers tight clothing such as "calça apertada," tight spaces like "espaço apertado," and tight schedules or budgets, "agenda apertada" or "orçamento apertado." The term is common in everyday speech to convey physical tightness or figurative scarcity.

See also: apretar, apertar, and related phrases in each language, including idioms that convey similar notions of constraint or pressure.