Vocabulário de calçado em português fácil

What does “havaianas” mean in Brazilian Portuguese?

Chinelo is the everyday Portuguese word for a flip-flop, but in Brazil people are just as likely to say havaiana instead — singular for one sandal from the pair now called havaianas. The brand started in 1962 with a rubber sandal inspired by the Japanese zori, and sold so well it replaced the generic word, the way some English speakers say “Band-Aid” for any bandage.

The word behaves like a common noun despite being a trademark: pull one sandal out of the pair and Brazilians still say uma havaiana, no capital letter needed in speech. The brand has grown far past 1962, now shipping roughly 252 million pairs a year to more than 100 countries — and the flag-striped straps have become an informal visual shorthand for Brazil itself.