pelotear

Spanish

Etymology

From pelota (“ball”) +‎ -ear.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /peloteˈaɾ/ [pe.lo.t̪eˈaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: pe‧lo‧te‧ar

Verb

pelotear (first-person singular present peloteo, first-person singular preterite peloteé, past participle peloteado)

1. (sports) to have an informal game, play for fun
   1. (tennis) to knock up
   2. (tennis) to kick a ball about
2. (transitive) to twirl around, to swing about
3. to bicker, argue
4. (colloquial, intransitive) to suck up; brownnose

   Synonyms: hacer la pelota, lamer el culo

Conjugation

    Conjugation of pelotear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			pelotear
gerund			peloteando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		peloteado		peloteada
		plural		peloteados		peloteadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	peloteo	peloteastú peloteásvos	pelotea	peloteamos	peloteáis	pelotean
	imperfect	peloteaba	peloteabas	peloteaba	peloteábamos	peloteabais	peloteaban
	preterite	peloteé	peloteaste	peloteó	peloteamos	peloteasteis	pelotearon
	future	pelotearé	pelotearás	peloteará	pelotearemos	pelotearéis	pelotearán
	conditional	pelotearía	pelotearías	pelotearía	pelotearíamos	pelotearíais	pelotearían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	pelotee	peloteestú peloteésvos2	pelotee	peloteemos	peloteéis	peloteen
	imperfect (ra)	peloteara	pelotearas	peloteara	peloteáramos	pelotearais	pelotearan
	imperfect (se)	pelotease	peloteases	pelotease	peloteásemos	peloteaseis	peloteasen
	future1	peloteare	peloteares	peloteare	peloteáremos	peloteareis	pelotearen
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		peloteatú peloteávos	pelotee	peloteemos	pelotead	peloteen
	negative		no pelotees	no pelotee	no peloteemos	no peloteéis	no peloteen

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

Derived terms

• peloteo

 

Further reading

• “pelotear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28