hinchazón
nounCEFR B1
What does “hinchazón” mean in English?
swelling — the condition of a body part being swollen; hincharse
swelling — the condition of a body part being swollen; hincharse (reflexive) — to swell; estar hinchado/a (resultative state); reducir la hinchazón
Example sentences
La doctora observó que la hinchazón del pie había empeorado desde la última visita y le preguntó si lo había mantenido elevado y si había tomado el antiinflamatorio que le había recetado.
The doctor observed that the swelling in the foot had worsened since the last visit and asked whether he had kept it elevated and whether he had taken the anti-inflammatory she had prescribed.
Notó que el tobillo se le había hinchado mucho después del golpe, así que lo envolvió en hielo y fue a urgencias para que le hicieran una radiografía y descartaran una fractura.
She noticed that her ankle had swollen a lot after the blow, so she wrapped it in ice and went to A and E to have an X-ray to rule out a fracture.
How to use it
La hinchazón means swelling — the condition of a body part being swollen. The adjective is hinchado/a (swollen), used with estar: el tobillo está hinchado. The verb is hincharse (reflexive, for a body part swelling). Common collocations: reducir la hinchazón, bajar la hinchazón, la hinchazón de la rodilla, la zona está hinchada y dolorida. Typical medical advice for swelling: aplicar hielo, mantener elevado, tomar un antiinflamatorio.
Common mistake
La hinchazón is feminine despite ending in -ón (the suffix -ón is typically masculine in Spanish, but hinchazón is a lexicalised exception). Do not confuse estar hinchado (to be swollen — resultative state) with hincharse (the process of swelling up). The parallel verb estar inflado is possible but less common in medical contexts.