sofferto

Sofferto is the Italian past participle and adjective derived from the verb soffrire, meaning to suffer. In common use it describes someone who has endured pain or hardship, or something that has been endured. As a verb form, it appears in compound tenses with the auxiliary avere (ho sofferto, hai sofferto, ha sofferto). When used as an adjective, it agrees with gender and number: un periodo sofferto, una malattia sofferta, periodi sofferti, malattie sofferte.

Etymology and forms: soffrire comes from Latin sub-ferre, “to bear under,” and over time produced the Italian participle sofferto. The gendered forms are sofferto (masc. sing.), sofferta (fem. sing.), sofferti (masc. pl.), and sofferte (fem. pl.).

Usage notes: Sofferto is commonly found in literary or formal contexts and in descriptive phrases such as “un periodo sofferto” or “una vita sofferta.” It is distinct from soffrente or soffrere, which emphasize the ongoing state of suffering (sofferente) rather than the experience of having suffered in the past (sofferto). In everyday speech, speakers more often use phrases like “ ho sofferto ” to express the experience directly, or simpler descriptors such as “molto doloroso” to convey hardship.

See also: soffrire, sofferenza, sofferente. The term is closely related to expressions of endurance and hardship in Italian, and its use typically centers on the experience of suffering rather than the general state of being afflicted.