The right Spanish term depends on meaning: busto fits sculpture or chest, while redada and fracaso fit other uses.
“Bust” looks simple in English, but it isn’t. It can mean a sculpture of a person’s head and shoulders. It can mean a chest measurement. It can mean a police raid. It can mean a flop, a slump, or something broken in casual speech. Spanish does not pack all of that into one neat match.
That’s why direct translation can go wrong fast. If you pick one Spanish word and use it for every case, your sentence may sound odd, stiff, or wrong. The fix is easy once you sort the meaning first, then match the Spanish word to that meaning.
How To Say Bust In Spanish In Real Context
If you mean a sculpture of a person from the shoulders up, the usual word is busto. If you mean the chest area or bust measurement in clothing, busto also works in many places. If you mean a police bust, Spanish usually goes with redada, operativo, or a phrase built around an arrest. If you mean a failure, a market bust, or a flop, you’ll often need fracaso, quiebra, crack, or another word that fits the setting.
So the clean answer is this: there is no one-size-fits-all Spanish match for “bust.” The best choice changes with the sentence. That may feel annoying, but it keeps your Spanish natural instead of word-for-word.
Why This English Word Splits In Spanish
English loves short words that carry a pile of meanings. Spanish tends to split those meanings into separate words. That split gives precision and means you need to watch the scene around the word.
Ask yourself one thing before you translate: what is happening in the sentence? Are you talking about art, clothing, crime news, business, or broken stuff? Once that part is clear, the Spanish choice gets much easier.
Bust As A Sculpture Or The Upper Chest
Busto is the word many learners meet first, and for good reason. In art, it means a bust statue, usually the head, neck, shoulders, and upper chest. In fashion and sewing, it can also refer to the bust line or bust measurement. That makes it a safe pick in those two settings.
You might say un busto de mármol for a marble bust or medida del busto for bust measurement. In many daily conversations about the body, speakers may choose other body terms depending on region and tone. Still, for clothing charts, tailoring, formal product copy, and art labels, busto works well.
Bust As A Police Raid
This is where many learners slip. In news English, “bust” often means a police operation that catches suspects or shuts down illegal activity. Spanish does not usually say busto here. A better fit is redada when the sense is a raid or sweep. In other cases, a sentence with operativo policial, allanamiento, or arresto may sound more natural.
So “The drug bust happened at dawn” could be framed with redada or rewritten around arrests made at dawn. Spanish news style often prefers the event itself rather than a slangy single-word label. That shift matters if you want your wording to sound native.
Bust As A Flop, Slump, Or Collapse
English also uses “bust” for failure. A business can go bust. A plan can be a bust. A boom can turn into a bust. Spanish splits those uses too. Fracaso works for a flop or failed plan. Quiebra fits bankruptcy. Crisis, caída, or crack may fit an economic bust, based on tone and place.
This is why sentence-level meaning matters more than dictionary order. A learner who grabs the first entry may land on a word that is correct in one column of the dictionary and wrong in the actual line they want to say.
| English Use Of “Bust” | Best Spanish Match | When It Fits |
|---|---|---|
| A sculpture from the shoulders up | busto | Art, museums, history, design |
| Bust measurement in clothing | busto | Fashion charts, sewing, tailoring |
| Upper chest in formal body description | busto | Formal or retail wording |
| A police bust or raid | redada | News, crime reports, police action |
| A police operation | operativo policial | When you want a neutral news tone |
| A failed plan or total flop | fracaso | Projects, events, ideas, films |
| A business going bust | quiebra | Bankruptcy or financial collapse |
| An economic bust after a boom | caída, crisis, or crack | Markets, housing, jobs, finance |
| “Busted” meaning broken | roto or averiado | Objects, gear, devices, machines |
Common Sentences And The Best Spanish Choice
Let’s make this practical. If you see “bust” with a museum, artist, portrait, stone, bronze, or pedestal, think busto. If you see it beside sizes, bras, dresses, or sewing tape, think busto again. If the sentence sounds like crime news, stop and switch to redada or a police-operation phrase. If the mood is failure, money trouble, or collapse, reach for fracaso, quiebra, or a term tied to the exact kind of collapse.
Here are the kinds of matches that sound natural:
- “The museum bought a Roman bust.” → El museo compró un busto romano.
- “Write down your bust measurement.” → Anota la medida del busto.
- “The police made a drug bust.” → La policía hizo una redada antidrogas.
- “The movie was a bust.” → La película fue un fracaso.
- “The company went bust.” → La empresa quebró.
- “My phone is busted.” → Mi teléfono está roto.
Notice what’s happening in those lines. The English word stays the same. The Spanish word changes every time. That is normal. Good translation is not about word loyalty. It is about meaning loyalty.
When Busto Is Right, And When It Is Not
Busto is the right answer more often than many other choices, but only in the art or body-measurement sense. If you use busto for a police raid, native speakers will hear the wrong picture. If you use busto for a failed business, they may pause and wonder what you meant.
A useful memory trick is to tie busto to shape. A carved upper body has shape. A dress measurement has shape. A raid or a flop does not. That quick mental link can save you from the most common error.
| If You Mean This | Use This Spanish Word | Avoid This Mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Statue bust | busto | Do not swap in crime terms |
| Bust size | busto | Do not force slang body words into retail copy |
| Police bust | redada or a police-operation phrase | Do not use busto |
| Flop or failed event | fracaso | Do not translate by sound alone |
| Bankruptcy | quiebra | Do not treat every failure as the same |
| Broken device | roto or averiado | Do not keep the noun form when English uses an adjective |
Regional Tone And Style Choices
Spanish changes from place to place, so you may hear different word choices. That is normal too. A news report may prefer a formal phrase where casual speech would choose a shorter one. A finance article may pick crack for a market collapse in one region, while another writer may use caída or crisis.
Still, the broad pattern stays steady. Busto belongs to art and measurements. Crime writing leans toward raid, operation, arrest, or seizure wording. Failure and collapse lean toward words tied to failure, bankruptcy, or decline. Once you learn that pattern, you can handle new sentences with confidence.
How Native Speakers Usually Choose
Native speakers do not stop and hunt for one master translation of “bust.” They read the full sentence and pick the word that fits the event. That habit is worth copying. It will make your Spanish cleaner, and it will also help you with many other tricky English words that carry several meanings.
If you are ever stuck, replace “bust” in English with a clearer mini-definition before you translate. Ask: do I mean statue, chest, raid, flop, bankruptcy, or broken? Once you answer that, the Spanish almost picks itself.
Final Word Choice By Situation
If you need one simple takeaway, use busto only when “bust” means a sculpture or a bust measurement. Use redada or a police-operation phrase for a crime bust. Use fracaso for a flop, quiebra for going broke, and roto or averiado for something busted.
That approach sounds natural, clear, and well taught. It also keeps you from the classic learner mistake of forcing one Spanish word into every English sentence. Sort the meaning first. Then pick the Spanish word that matches the scene.