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Despite being fluent in BR-PT, I'm blanking on the possible equivalency.

Butt-hurt means..."Getting your feelings hurt, being offended or getting all bent out of shape because of something petty or stupid." Basically, having an overemotional response to perceived insult.

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    So it is something like an emotional storm in a tea cup?
    – Jacinto
    Commented Dec 5, 2015 at 17:26
  • "Ressabiado" tem sido usado ultimamente muito em Portugal...
    – Artefacto
    Commented Dec 5, 2015 at 18:31
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    Even though it seems easily explainable, I'm having a hard time finding a word/expression that means the same. I supposed it would be something along the lines of overreacting.
    – Molx
    Commented Dec 6, 2015 at 2:47
  • @Molx yes, I'm thinking the closest might be something like "exagerar na reação" or simply "não exagere" (for "don't get all butt-hurt")
    – Adam
    Commented Dec 6, 2015 at 13:31
  • @Adam, one or two sample sentences might help people in finding a translation.
    – ANeves
    Commented Dec 6, 2015 at 22:04

2 Answers 2

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I'd suggest a good translation to "butt-hurt" would be magoadinho/a, which is the diminutive form of magoado/a.

Portuguese definition of magoado:

adj. Que acabou por se magoar; que sofre ou expressa mágoa; em que há pesar; pesaroso.

Que possui nódoa; que sofreu uma contusão; contundido.

Que expressa ou sente dor (física).

Source

Magoado/a, therefore, would translate to "(adj.) hurt" in English.

It is my understanding that "butt-hurt" has a derogatory tone to it, whilst also being a colloquialism.

Moreover, the diminutive form of words doesn't necessarily correlate to the "small form of the word", neither in English nor in Portuguese.

For instance: camisinha is not a small shirt; pegadinha is not (always) a small footstep; and both menininha and "girly" may be derogatory ways of saying that someone is too feminine.

Thus, magoadinho/a adds a derogatory, even sarcastic tone to being magoado/a, much like the transformation the prefix "butt-" does to "hurt" in the expression "butt-hurt".

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    I think the diminutive is what actually makes it a good translation. It gives the same idea of invalidation.
    – Artefacto
    Commented Dec 7, 2015 at 23:01
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    Magoadinho/a is a good one. But I was reading thorugh your 2nd and 3rd paragraphs and thinking, what the heck is he trying to say, and then I understood your point when I saw the suggestion. So I wonder whether it would be better to presente your suggestion first and explain it afterwards. True, -inho doesn't have to mean small, but you do not explain what it means in this case (normally, deserving pitty, here ironic). That's fine for native speakers, but for the benefit of others (answer being in English and all) it might be better to explain what it means in this case.
    – Jacinto
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 11:59
  • Thank you for the suggestions, @Jacinto. I edited the answer to accommodate them.
    – Bell App Lab
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 13:00
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There's also a popular expression: having your rabo entre as pernas (i.e. tail between the legs).

This expression has a literal resemblance to the butt-hurt expression, but this rabo actually refers to the tail of an animal (e.g. when a dog is scared/frightened for some reason, the tail goes between its legs), therefore its meaning is perhaps more than just having one's feelings hurt, it's "getting all bent out of shape" by some incident that threatened or reprehended that same person.

I related both expressions since butt-hurt literally implies that someone's rear was hurt due to some (psychological) spanking where the reason for that spanking is already "behind" that person... The result is an obvious embarrassment or soreness that other people noticed, thus if there was a tail it would be between the legs.

Compare with rabo-alçado, however this expression refers to an "upright tail" instead (unlike the synonym given in the dictionary), meaning a haughty or arrogant behavior (thanks Jacinto).

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    Rabo alçado (upright tail) does not mean *rabo entre as pernas (tail between legs). Priberam is wrong. Dicionário da Academia says it means haughty.
    – Jacinto
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 12:30
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    Rabo entre as pernas tem um significado bem mais próximo, e também muito usado, para alguém envergonhado
    – Striter Alfa
    Commented Dec 8, 2015 at 19:32
  • @Jacinto I also thought about that, I particularly looked for "rabo entre as pernas" and in Priberam "rabo-alçado" appeared instead (edited though, but I couldn't find any good reference for these expressions)...
    – Armfoot
    Commented Dec 9, 2015 at 11:41

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