alarma
nounCEFR B2
What does “alarma” mean in English?
alarm — state of collective concern or fear; also an alarm device or signal
alarm — state of collective concern or fear; also an alarm device or signal (la alarma social; dar la voz de alarma; el estado de alarma)
Example sentences
Los epidemiólogos dieron la voz de alarma meses antes de que los gobiernos tomaran medidas restrictivas.
Epidemiologists sounded the alarm months before governments took restrictive measures.
La declaración del estado de alarma fue la medida excepcional más drástica adoptada por el gobierno en décadas.
The declaration of the state of emergency was the most drastic exceptional measure adopted by the government in decades.
El informe sobre la calidad del aire en las ciudades generó una alarma social que tardó semanas en calmarse.
The report on air quality in cities generated public alarm that took weeks to subside.
How to use it
La alarma (noun, feminine) means 'alarm' — both the device and, crucially at B2, the state of collective concern or fear: la alarma social (public alarm), la alarma sanitaria (health alert). Core collocations: dar/sonar la voz de alarma (to sound the alarm), generar/sembrar alarma, una señal de alarma, el estado de alarma (Spain's constitutional emergency state, declared during the Covid-19 pandemic). Distinguish from alerta (an official warning or alert level — alerta roja) and miedo (fear — more personal, internal).
Common mistake
El estado de alarma is a very specific Spanish constitutional category — not simply 'a state of alarm'. In the 2020 pandemic context it became one of the highest-frequency items in Spanish news. Distinguish dar la voz de alarma (to sound the alarm — figurative, metaphorical) from activar la alarma (to trigger the security alarm — literal, device).