---
title: "de a tiro"
translation: "Completely. Utterly. Flat out."
type: "word"
category: "expression"
url: "https://consalsa.app/words/de-a-tiro"
canonical: "https://consalsa.app/words/de-a-tiro"
published: "2026-11-07"
updated: "2026-11-07"
author: "Andrey the Nomad"
site: "ConSalsa.App"
license: "https://consalsa.app/terms#ip"
---

# de a tiro
URL: https://consalsa.app/words/de-a-tiro
Translation: Completely. Utterly. Flat out.
Pronunciation: /de a ˈti.ɾo/
Category: expression
Region: Mexico
Register: casual, everyday, safe with anyone
Variants: dialtiro, diatiro, deatiro, de a tiro la friegas
Literal meaning: Tiro is a shot. De a tiro is in one shot - all of it at once, which is how the word ended up meaning entirely.
Published: 2026-11-07

Quick answer:
- De a tiro means completely, utterly, flat out - and it usually intensifies a complaint.
- It is not al tiro. That one means sharp and ready; this one means entirely.
- You will also see it as dialtiro or diatiro, which is how it sounds at speed.

What it means:
- An intensifier. Whatever comes after it is being described as total, and the phrase adds nothing else of its own.
- It leans negative because complaints are what people intensify most, and the Academia glosses one sense outright as es el colmo. It is not built that way, but a sincere compliment with this phrase in it will often be heard as sarcasm anyway.

Literal meaning:
- Tiro is a shot, and de a tiro is in one shot - the whole thing at once. That is the route from a firearm to an adverb meaning entirely.
- At speed the three words collapse into one, which is why dialtiro and diatiro are both common in writing. Nobody treats them as errors.

How Mexicans use it:
- Attached to a complaint it is everywhere. De a tiro no sirve, de a tiro se pasó, de a tiro ya no puedo.
- Attached to praise it is rare and risky. De a tiro te luciste can be sincere and is usually sarcastic, so it is not the phrase to reach for when you actually mean well.
- The collocation to learn is **de a tiro la friegas** - roughly *you are really pushing it* - and its softer cousin **dialtiro la amuelas**. Both are in the Academia Mexicana entry, and both are what you will actually hear the phrase attached to.
- There is a third sense the dictionaries record and speakers rarely name: **de una vez**, at once. And a separate locution off the same noun - andar deatiro, meaning to be broke or low.

Common mistake:
- Blending it with al tiro. Andar al tiro is being sharp and on it; de a tiro is completely. They are unrelated phrases built on the same noun, and mixing them is the single most common error with either.
- Reading de a tiro te luciste as a compliment. It can be, and it is sarcastic more often - the intensifier tilts it. Praise is safer without this phrase in it.

Examples:
- De a tiro no sirve. — It's completely useless.
- De a tiro se pasó contigo. — He went way too far with you.
- De a tiro la friegas, ¿eh? — You're really pushing it, you know.
- Dialtiro ya no aguanto el calor. — I honestly can't take the heat any more.

Mini dialogue:
A: ¿Otra vez no llegó el técnico?
B: Otra vez. Tercera semana.
A: Ya de a tiro.
B: Ya ni les hablo. Voy a buscar a otro.
A: Pues sí. De a tiro ya fue mucho.

FAQ:
Q: What does de a tiro mean?
A: Completely, utterly, flat out. It intensifies whatever follows, and what follows is usually a complaint.

Q: Is de a tiro the same as al tiro?
A: No, and this is the trap. Al tiro means sharp, alert, ready. De a tiro means entirely. Unrelated phrases.

Q: Why is it sometimes written dialtiro?
A: Because that is how it sounds at speed. Dialtiro and diatiro are both common in writing and nobody treats them as errors.

Q: Is it always negative?
A: No. It supplies force, not direction - de a tiro te luciste, said warmly, is a real compliment.

Q: Where is it used?
A: All over Mexico. Speakers often call it northwestern, but the dictionaries carry no regional mark and de a tiro la friegas is bedrock in the centre too.

Q: What is de a tiro la friegas?
A: Roughly you are really pushing it - the collocation the phrase most often attaches to. Dialtiro la amuelas is the softer version, and both are in the Academia Mexicana entry.

Q: What is the closest synonym?
A: De plano. That one is flatter and more about dropping the hedging; de a tiro is more about totality.

Related words: de-plano, al-tiro, ya-ni-la-haces, uta, ni-modo