трахать (trakhat')
What does трахать (trakhat') mean? трахать (trakhat') is a Russian moderate that translates to “to fuck / to screw” in English.
Literal Translation
to bang / to hit
Meaning & Usage
"to fuck / to screw"
A vulgar but non-мат verb for having sex. The original meaning is 'to hit/bang,' and the sexual sense developed by metaphorical extension — same as English 'bang.' It occupies a sweet spot: cruder than 'заниматься сексом' (have sex) but far milder than 'ебать' (fuck).
Examples in the Wild
In conversation: 'Они трахаются' (They're screwing). In media: used because 'ебать' is literally illegal to broadcast.
When to Use It
Context
- Casual conversations with friends
- Informal settings where profanity is accepted
Avoid
- Professional or formal settings
- Mixed company or unfamiliar social groups
- Job interviews, meetings, or customer-facing situations
Cultural Context
Because 'трахать' is not мат, it can legally appear in Russian media, which makes it the go-to sexual verb for movies, TV, and journalism. The 2014 anti-mat law forced Russian screenwriters to replace all instances of 'ебать' with 'трахать' in scripts, creating an entire category of linguistically sanitized but still vulgar dialogue. Many Russians find the forced substitution amusing.
More in Russian 🇷🇺
View all →идиот (idiot)
“idiot”
Same word, same meaning, borrowed from Greek via French like its English counterpart. But in Russian it has a literary weight that the English version lacks — Dostoevsky's novel 'Идиот' (The Idiot, 1869) gave the word a philosophical dimension. Prince Myshkin is the 'idiot' — genuinely good in a world that considers goodness stupid.
ёпт (yopt)
“fuck / shit”
A truncated exclamation — essentially the first syllable of 'ёб твою мать' bitten off at the moment of impact. It's what comes out when you stub your toe and don't have time for the full phrase. Technically still мат, but its brevity makes it feel slightly milder — like how 'sh-' cut off is softer than 'shit.'
долбоёб (dolboyob)
“dumbfuck / moron / idiot”
Idiot; stupid person; someone who 'fucks logs' (долбить = to chop/peck).
сука (suka)
“bitch / traitor / snitch”
Bitch (female dog); treacherous person; prison informant.
кретин (kretin)
“cretin / moron”
Another medical-term-turned-insult, borrowed from French like its English equivalent. In Russian, it sits at roughly the same severity as 'дебил' but sounds slightly more educated — the kind of insult an academic uses when they want to call someone stupid without sounding low-class themselves.
ёбаный (yobanyy)
“fucking / goddamn”
The all-purpose Russian adjective for expressing frustration, derived from 'ебать.' It works exactly like English 'fucking' as a modifier — 'ёбаный компьютер' (fucking computer), 'ёбаный дождь' (fucking rain). The word itself has a satisfying three-syllable weight that makes it feel more substantial than a quick exclamation.
чмо (chmo)
“loser / pathetic person”
A crushing insult meaning someone is pathetic, worthless, and socially beneath contempt. The word sounds as unpleasant as its meaning — the 'чм' consonant cluster is inherently harsh in Russian. A чмо isn't even worth getting angry at; they're pitied and dismissed.
дебил (debil)
“moron / idiot / retard”
Originally a clinical psychiatric term (дебильность was the mildest form of intellectual disability in Soviet classification), now a common insult meaning 'idiot.' The clinical-to-insult pipeline is the same as English 'moron,' 'idiot,' and 'imbecile' — all former medical terms repurposed as abuse.