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asshole

noun
/æshoʊl/US

Etymology

Variant of earlier arsehole, from Middle English arshole, arcehoole, equivalent to ass + hole. Cognate with Norwegian rasshøl (“asshole”), Swedish arsle (“asshole”). Compare also German Arschloch (“asshole”). Attested from the 1370s, replacing earlier Old English earsþyrel (“anus”, literally “ass hole”). First recorded in Middle English, as ers hole (Glouc. Cath. Manuscript 19. No. I., dated 1379, cited after OED), ars-hole (Bodleian Ashmole MS. 1396, dated ca. 1400, ed. Robert Von Fleischhacker as Lanfrank's "Science of Cirurgie", EETS 102, 1894, cited after OED.) Slang figurative usage dates to the 20th century; it was used of an uninviting place (compare shithole) in the 1920s, and then of an anti-social or despicable person from at least the 1950s (Harvard Advocate 137, March 1954). It is also used appositionally (as in "You're an asshole moralist", T. Chamales, 1957).

  1. derived from arshole

Definitions

  1. The anus.

    • That homemade hot sauce of yours got me twice, both coming and going. My asshole is still sore.
    • She said she couldn't wiggle when she had the doorknob in her asshole.
    • 'You talk as if you were born without an asshole,' he cried to Commander Semmes.

  2. A jerk

    A jerk; an inappropriately or objectionably mean, inconsiderate, contemptible, immoral, obnoxious, intrusive, stupid, or rude person.

    • My former landlord was a world-class asshole. Fortunately my current landlord is an actual human being.
    • He philosophised all day about Morandi, Klee, Miró and Picasso, and was such an asshole that he spelled "cunt" with a "d".
    • She posted her story on Reddit to ask if she was, in fact, the asshole, and the results showed that she was not. […] They are the assholes for thinking they and their little crotch-spawn were special and exempt from the event guidelines.

  3. Anything (especially a place) that is unpleasant or undesirable.

    • Welcome to the Northeast, the asshole of America.
    • You oughta have better sense than to trust anyone with anything in this asshole place.
    • ... but when he started bugging the bartender to shut the asshole TV off because he wanted to have a serious discussion...
  4. ›+ 1 more definition

    1. A receptacle under a fire grate for collecting ashes

      A receptacle under a fire grate for collecting ashes; an ash-hole.

      • Esshole, Asshole, the hole under the fire to hold ashes.

The neighborhood

Derived

askhole, asshole buddy, assholed, assholedom, assholehood, assholeness, assholery, assholey, assholic, assholiness, assholish, assholism, assholocene, asstard, cockhole, dickhole, douchehole, frathole, glasshole, harasshole, jackhole, jerkhole, maskhole, Masshole, opinions are like assholes, paxhole, rip someone a new asshole, tear someone a new asshole, vaxhole

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for asshole. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA