---
title: "clavarse"
translation: "To get hooked on something. Also: to pocket it and keep it."
type: "word"
category: "slang"
url: "https://consalsa.app/words/clavarse"
canonical: "https://consalsa.app/words/clavarse"
published: "2026-09-07"
updated: "2026-09-07"
author: "Andrey the Nomad"
site: "ConSalsa.App"
license: "https://consalsa.app/about"
---

# clavarse
URL: https://consalsa.app/words/clavarse
Translation: To get hooked on something. Also: to pocket it and keep it.
Pronunciation: /klaˈβaɾ.se/
Category: slang
Region: Mexico
Register: casual, everyday, mildly accusatory in the stealing sense
Variants: clavado, se clavó, me clavé, clavarse con alguien
Literal meaning: Clavar is to nail something in. Clavarse is doing that to yourself - either sinking into something or driving it into your own pocket.
Tone & safety: Safe. The stealing sense is an accusation but a light one - it is what you say about a phone charger, not about a crime.
Published: 2026-09-07

Quick answer:
- Clavarse algo means to pocket it and keep it - swipe rather than steal.
- Clavarse con algo, en algo, or plus a gerund means to get hooked on it: me clavé con la serie, se clavó en el tema, me clavé viendo la serie.
- The grammar tells you which. A bare direct object is the pocketing sense; con, en or a gerund is the absorption sense.

What it means:
- The first sense is taking something small and not giving it back. A charger, an umbrella, a lighter, the good pen from the office. Se lo clavó names the act without calling it theft, which is precisely why it exists.
- The second sense is being unable to leave something alone. Me clavé con la serie, me clavé leyendo, se clavó con esa chava. It covers a series, a subject, a hobby and a person, and the flavour changes with each.
- Applied to a person it swings. Anda bien clavado con ella is often said with a grin and means he is crazy about her. Said flatter, it means stuck - thinking about somebody more than is doing him any good. The word does not decide, the delivery does, and estar enamorado is the one that only ever means the happy version.

Literal meaning:
- Clavar is to nail something in, from clavo, a nail. Reflexive, it points the action back at the speaker, and that gives Mexican Spanish two useful pictures: something driven into your own pocket, and yourself driven into something you cannot get out of.
- Un clavado is a dive, which is the same image again - going in headfirst and disappearing under. The obsession sense reads that way in practice, and clavarse leyendo is close to the English buried in a book.
- Which of the two senses came first is not documented, so anybody explaining one from the other is guessing. What is reliable is the grammar that separates them.

How Mexicans use it:
- The stealing sense is almost always in the past and almost always about something small. ¿Quién se clavó mi cargador? is a normal thing to say out loud in a shared flat, and nobody involved thinks a crime has occurred.
- The obsession sense lives in the present perfect and in chat. Me clavé con la serie, ya voy en la cuarta temporada - the sentence carries a small confession, which is why it usually comes with a laugh.
- The romantic version is what you will hear most about other people, and it swings with the delivery - anda bien clavado is fond from one friend and a diagnosis from another. No te claves is the warning, and it is one of the most common uses of the whole verb. It also detaches from romance completely: said to somebody chewing over a comment or a work problem, it means stop turning it over.
- There is also clavarse in the sense of going too deep into a subject - se clavó con la historia del edificio. Nothing negative in it; it means somebody went down the rabbit hole and enjoyed it.

Common mistake:
- Missing the preposition, which is what separates the two meanings. Me clavé el libro is I pocketed the book. Me clavé con el libro is I could not put it down - and me clavé en el libro or me clavé leyendo do the same job. A bare object is the only shape that means taking.
- Translating estar clavado as being in love. It is closer to hung up on, and it carries a flavour of being stuck rather than being happy. Telling somebody está clavado contigo is not the compliment a learner usually intends.

Examples:
- ¿Quién se clavó mi cargador? — Who swiped my charger?
- Me clavé con la serie, ya voy en la cuarta temporada. — I got hooked on the show, I'm already on season four.
- Anda bien clavado con ella, no habla de otra cosa. — He's completely hung up on her, he doesn't talk about anything else.
- No te claves, apenas llevan dos semanas. — Don't get too caught up, it's only been two weeks.

Mini dialogue:
A: ¿No has visto mi cargador? El blanco.
B: Seguro alguien se lo clavó en la fiesta.
A: Otra vez. Es el tercero del año.
B: Pues ya ni compres de los buenos.
A: Pues sí, ni modo.

FAQ:
Q: What does clavarse mean in Mexican Spanish?
A: Two things. Clavarse algo is to pocket something and keep it. Clavarse con algo or con alguien is to get hooked on it. The preposition tells you which.

Q: What does me clavé con la serie mean?
A: I got hooked on the show. The con is what makes it the obsession sense - without it, me clavé la serie would mean you took the box set.

Q: What does estar clavado con alguien mean?
A: To be hung up on somebody. Not the same as being in love - it carries a hint of being stuck, and friends usually say it with sympathy rather than approval.

Q: Is clavarse the same as stealing?
A: No, and that is the point of the word. Robar is theft. Clavarse is what happened to your umbrella - it names the act while refusing to make it a crime.

Q: What does no te claves mean?
A: Two things. About a person, don't get too caught up. About a comment or a problem you keep turning over, it means let it go - and that use is at least as common.

Q: What does clavadito a su papá mean?
A: He is the spitting image of his father. A separate sense of the same adjective, with nothing to do with obsession or with taking things, and you will hear it at every family gathering.

Q: Is estar clavado con alguien a bad thing?
A: It depends on the delivery. Said with a grin it means crazy about her. Said flatter it means stuck, and thinking about somebody more than is good for him. Enamorado is the one that only means the happy version.

Q: Where does clavarse come from?
A: From clavar, to nail something in, and clavo, a nail. Un clavado is a dive, which is the same picture - going in headfirst. Which sense came first is not documented.

Q: What is un clavo saca otro clavo?
A: One nail drives out another - the Mexican proverb for getting over somebody by meeting somebody else. It is said about exactly the situation estar clavado describes.

Related words: tronar, ligar, cortar, chingar, me-late