fesso
What does fesso mean? fesso is a Italian moderate that translates to “fool, sucker, chump” in English.
Literal Translation
cracked, split (from Latin fissus)
Meaning & Usage
01
"fool, sucker, chump"
A fool, a sucker — someone who's been 'cracked' or broken mentally. In Neapolitan culture, 'fesso' is the opposite of 'furbo' (clever/cunning). The furbo-fesso dichotomy is central to southern Italian social philosophy: the world is divided into those who outsmart and those who get outsmarted.
Examples in the Wild
'Ma che, so' fesso?' — what, do you think I'm stupid? (Neapolitan). 'Fare il fesso' — to play the fool. Central to Naples's self-image.