# asshole

Pronunciation: say "AS-hohl" US /ˈæsˌhoʊl/, UK /ˈæsˌhəʊl/

## Noun

1. A contemptible person who behaves in an objectionably mean, rude, inconsiderate, obnoxious, intrusive, or stupid way. *(US)*
   - Simple: A person who is mean, rude, selfish, pushy, or stupid in a way that bothers others.
   - _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._
2. The anus, the opening at the end of the digestive tract through which solid waste leaves the body. *(US)*
   - Simple: The opening in your bottom that solid waste comes out of.
   - _Hemorrhoids had made his asshole itch through the entire six-hour drive._
   - _Proctologists spend their working day looking at other people's assholes._
3. Anything unpleasant or undesirable, and especially a place. *(US)*
   - Simple: Something bad or unpleasant, 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._

## Noun

4. A receptacle under a fire grate that catches and holds the falling ashes. *(obsolete, Northern England, Scotland, US)*
   - Simple: A container under the metal bars of a fire that catches the ashes.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3** — 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.
**Meaning 4** — From Scots ass, asse or ash, plus hole.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/asshole (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).