What Does Piscar Mean? Blink, Wink and Flashing Lights in Brazil

If you landed here wondering about the piscar meaning, here's the quick answer: in Portuguese, piscar means to blink, to open and close your eyes fast, and it also means to wink when you do it with just one eye ("piscar o olho"). But here in Brazil we use this verb for way more than eyes.

We say a light is "piscando" when it flashes or flickers on and off, we call Christmas lights "pisca pisca", and a car's hazard lights are the "pisca alerta". That piscando meaning is the one that confuses English speakers the most, because you'd never guess that "luz piscando" is just a flashing light.

Think of this post as your piscar in English cheat sheet. Below you'll find the video and real phrases with piscar, piscadela, dar uma piscada and pestanejar, so you learn how to say blink in Portuguese, how to wink in Portuguese like a local, and even a vulgar expression you'll definitely hear on the street or in a Brazilian movie.

Video: The Verb PISCAR in Portuguese

In this video I explain with real examples what piscar means in Portuguese and how we Brazilians use this verb beyond blinking: for lights, cars, winks and even in the kitchen. Watch it first and then practice with the phrases below.

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Portuguese Phrases with the Verb PISCAR

These are the phrases with piscar you'll hear the most in Brazil, organized by meaning: from blinking and winking to pisca pisca Christmas lights and a pinch of salt. Every example is in everyday Portuguese, just the way we say it here.

Luz piscando

Luz piscando is a light that flickers or keeps turning on and off, like a faulty light bulb or the warning light on an appliance. That's the most common piscando meaning in Brazil when we're not talking about eyes.

• Acho que a lavadora tá com defeito, essa luz fica piscando durante a lavagem e às vezes até apita.

FICAR in Portuguese and its 20 meanings in everyday expressions

Piscar o olho / Piscadela

Piscar o olho means to wink, and a piscadela is the wink itself: that quick one-eye gesture to flirt, let someone in on a joke or show you're just kidding. Piscadela sounds a bit more polished; on the street you'll almost always hear "piscada".

• Você viu ele piscando o olho pra mim?
• Ela deu uma piscadela pra mim quando fez o comentário.

Pestanejar (formal)

Pestanejar is the formal synonym of piscar and also means to blink. Figuratively, "não pestanejar" means to act without a second of hesitation, just like "without batting an eye" in English, so this one should feel familiar.

• Ele não pestanejou em tomar essa decisão.

Dar uma piscada

Dar uma piscada is the most natural way to say "to wink at someone" in everyday Portuguese. Watch the context though: in Brazil a wink is often read as flirting, so use it carefully if you don't want to send the wrong message.

• Eu dei uma piscada pra ela mas acho que ela entendeu que eu tava com outras intenções.

How to say HIT ON SOMEONE in Portuguese

Piscar o olho

Here piscar o olho isn't an intentional wink but uncontrolled blinking, like a nervous tic or some eye irritation. When someone "pisca muito os olhos" it can be from tiredness, dry eyes or nerves, so I'm leaving you an article in Portuguese on the topic.

• Ela me contou que entrevistou um cara que não parava de piscar um olho durante a entrevista, disse que ele tinha algum problema.

Article in Portuguese: Piscar de olhos: veja quando pode ser um problema

Pisca pisca (Natal)

Pisca pisca is what we call Christmas lights in Brazil, those little lights that blink on and off on the tree; in the plural we say "os pisca-piscas". So the pisca pisca meaning is simply what you'd call twinkle lights or string lights in the US.

• Você já montou sua árvore de Natal com o pisca pisca que te dei de presente?

Pisca / pisca alerta do carro

The pisca is the car's turn signal (yes, the blinker, same idea as in English) and the pisca alerta is the hazard lights, the ones that turn on both signals at the same time. That's why we say "ligar o pisca" before turning and "ligar o pisca alerta" when we pull over somewhere.

• Eu já tô aqui fora mas não vejo teu carro, ligue o pisca alerta.

5 ways to use LIGAR in Portuguese.

Pisca de sal / Pitada

Here pisca has nothing to do with blinking: it's a pinch, a tiny amount of something. Even so, in Brazilian recipes what you'll see and hear the most is "pitada de sal", so I'm giving you both.

• O segredo dessa receita é a pisca de sal antes, durante e depois de cozinhar.
• Coloca só uma pitada de cominho pra não ficar muito forte o sabor.

Num piscar de olhos

Num piscar de olhos means "in the blink of an eye", in other words, something that happens super fast. It's one of the piscar expressions we use the most in Brazil, and you'll find it in songs, novelas and everyday conversations.

• A pizza acabou num piscar de olhos, ninguém deixou nem um pedaço.

Vapt-vupt and 13 other ways to say FAST in Portuguese

Extra

In this bonus section I'll show you the traffic vocabulary that connects with piscar: the flashing yellow light, how we say the light changed, and the verb "furar", which in Brazil means running a red light, cutting in line or flaking on someone.

Semáforos piscando em amarelo

A semáforo piscando em amarelo, or "amarelo piscante", means caution in Brazil: you slow down and cross carefully, because at that moment nobody has a guaranteed right of way.

That's when the traffic lights are set to flashing mode on the yellow light.

Traffic Vocabulary in Portuguese (motorcycle ride)

Sinal abriu / fechou

In Brazil you'll hear that the light is "aberto" (it's green) and "fechado" (it's red), but people also just say "verde" and "vermelho".

Different ways to use the verb FECHAR in Portuguese

Furar o semáforo/sinal/sinaleira/farol

It means going through an intersection when the light is red, breaking traffic laws.

It works for both pedestrians and drivers who ignore the traffic light.

Another detail: depending on which part of Brazil you're in, people will use other words for traffic light, for example: "sinal", "sinaleira", "farol".

Several ways to use SINAL in Portuguese

Furar fila

Furar fila means cutting in line, jumping ahead of the people who got there first. In Brazil it's one of the things that annoys people the most, so if someone tells you "não fura a fila", now you know what you did.

• Você viu o cara furando a fila?

You can also use it in traffic when someone drives past a line of cars and then squeezes into a little gap up front.

Furar um compromisso

Furar um compromisso, or just "furar", means canceling at the last minute or not showing up to plans that were already set. In English you'd call it flaking on someone or standing someone up.

Não vou perder nem tempo te convidando pra essa saída que vamos fazer esse fim de semana, você sempre fura com a gente mesmo.

Several ways to say MAKE PLANS in Portuguese: Combinar (let's set something up)

6 ways to use MESMO in Portuguese

Tá com o C* piscando

A vulgar expression for saying someone is restless; sometimes, in a sexual context, it means the person is looking for sex.

Expressions with the word CU in Portuguese