verb (past tense/past participle), adjective
envernizado, revestido com goma-laca, derrotado completamente
1. Coated or covered with shellac (a resinous substance used as a varnish or finish)
The wooden furniture was shellacked to give it a glossy finish.
O móvel de madeira foi envernizado para lhe dar um acabamento brilhante.
2. Defeated decisively or humiliated; thrashed or beaten badly (informal/slang)
Our team got shellacked 10-0 in the championship game.
Nosso time foi derrotado de forma avassaladora 10-0 na final do campeonato.
3. Intoxicated or extremely drunk (informal/slang)
He came home completely shellacked after the party.
Ele chegou em casa completamente bêbado após a festa.
In American English, 'shellacked' is commonly used in sports commentary and casual conversation to describe a lopsided defeat. The intoxication meaning is particularly prevalent in NYC and northeastern U.S. slang. The original furniture/woodworking meaning is less frequently used in modern conversational English but remains relevant in carpentry and restoration contexts. In Brazilian Portuguese, the coating sense is more recognized, while the slang meanings (defeat, intoxication) are typically expressed with more standard vocabulary.
NYC Slang
Got shellacked = got totally destroyed/humiliated; also means got really drunk
Related Idioms & Phrases
get shellacked (suffer a decisive defeat)
shellacked at the polls (defeated in an election)
shellacked in the game (lost decisively in sports)
Look up more words on Fala2Me
The free English-Portuguese dictionary with real Brazilian accents, NYC slang, conjugator and more
Open Fala2Me →