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pain in the ass

noun

Etymology

Dysphemistically modelled after pain in the neck. First attested in the early to mid-20th century.

Definitions

  1. Something or someone that causes discomfort, frustration, or annoyance.

    • Strangely enough, the days I spent at this pain-in-the-ass job were some of my most memorable and valuable.

  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pain, in, the, ass.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for pain in the ass. 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