asshole
Pluralassholes
UK spellingarsehole
- 1A contemptible person who behaves in an objectionably mean, rude, inconsiderate, obnoxious, intrusive, or stupid way.
My old boss was a complete asshole who took credit for everything we did.
Honestly, you were the asshole for reading her texts without asking.
UsageJerk makes the same complaint less crudely. In blame, often the asshole: you were the asshole.
- 2The anus, the opening at the end of the digestive tract through which solid waste leaves the body.
Hemorrhoids had made his asshole itch through the entire six-hour drive.
Proctologists spend their working day looking at other people's assholes.
UsageAnus is the word for a doctor's office or a biology class.
Similaranus
Note
The body part comes first, and the insult grew from it. English has joined ass and hole this way since the 1370s, when the word replaced Old English earsþyrel, a compound with the same literal meaning.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The anatomical meaning predates the insult. en.wiktionary.org
- The compound of ass and hole is attested from the 1370s. en.wiktionary.org
- The compound replaced Old English earsþyrel. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English earsþyrel was a compound with the same literal meaning. en.wiktionary.org
- 3Anything unpleasant or undesirable, and especially a place.
After three years at the base, she still called it the asshole of the Pacific.
I'm not spending another winter in this asshole town.
UsageOften the asshole of a place, or before a noun: this asshole town. Dump is less crude.
Less common meaning
- 4A receptacle under a fire grate that catches and holds the falling ashes.
Esshole, Asshole, the hole under the fire to hold ashes.
1775, Tim Bobbin [John Collier], The Miscellaneous Works of Tim BobbinNote
This is a separate word that only looks like the vulgar ones: the ass is the Scots form of ash, so the name simply means the ash hole under a grate. It belonged to Scotland and the north of England, and The Miscellaneous Works of Tim Bobbin (1775) gives it beside the spelling esshole.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The ash-receptacle word has a separate etymology, combining Scots ass meaning ashes with hole. en.wiktionary.org
- The word belonged to Scotland and northern England and is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
Practice
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Origins
A variant of earlier arsehole, from Middle English arshole (also arcehoole), formed from ass + hole; compare Norwegian rasshøl, Swedish arsle and German Arschloch. It is recorded from the 1370s, replacing Old English earsþyrel ("anus", literally "ass hole"). The slang uses are modern: first for an unpleasant place, then, by the 1930s, for a despicable person.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 9 facts
- Asshole is a variant of older arsehole, derived from Middle English arshole or arcehoole. en.wiktionary.org
- The word consists of ass and hole. en.wikipedia.org
- Norwegian rasshøl is a comparable word. en.wiktionary.org
- Swedish arsle is a comparable word. en.wiktionary.org
- German Arschloch is a comparable word. en.wiktionary.org
- The word's Middle English predecessor is attested in the 1370s. en.wiktionary.org
- It replaced Old English earsþyrel. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English earsþyrel meant anus and literally combined words meaning arse and hole. en.wiktionary.org
- The despicable-person sense followed the place sense and existed by the 1950s. geoffreynunberg.com
From Scots ass, asse or ash, plus hole.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- For the ash-receptacle sense, asshole derives from Scots ass, asse or ash plus hole. en.wiktionary.org