like the back end of a bus

prepositional phrase

Very unattractive.

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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. UKcolloquialderogatorysimileVery unattractive.

    As I once told him, being British, looking like the back end of a bus or weighing 30 stone, was utterly irrelevant to the posting i made

    2006, "sheelagh", "Bookie: Did you adopt the blind cat?", rec.pats.cats.health+behav http://groups.google.com/group/rec.pets.cats.health+behav/browse_thread/thread/d6ce604519cdefbb/a5f305d13e68a960?lnk=st&q=%22the+back+end+of+a+bus%22&rnum=10#a5f305d13e68a960
    4 more examples

    Not really fighting over her (puns aside). When you get a current beau and an ex, full of booze and testosterone, meeting up, their common interest isn't much of an issue in the subsequent display of machismo. I think she looks like the back end of a bus but, to them, she was a 'possession'.

    2001, "Richard", "A sign of our times...", demon.local http://groups.google.com/group/demon.local/browse_thread/thread/3e3e39af204c46cb/06729fc6d595ef98?lnk=st&q=%22the+back+end+of+a+bus%22&rnum=21#06729fc6d595ef98

    Must admit, I like the *original* 911s - the original, late-1960s ones back before they fitted bulgey wheelarches and silly tea-tray rear spoilers. They look much more like delicate, precision instruments compared with the later 'sledgehammer" versions [which IMHO are about as attractive as the back end of a bus].

    2002, Tanuki the Raccoon-dog, “I drove a...”, in uk.rec.cars.modifications (Usenet)

    You surely can't be comparing Alicia Witt with Sarah Fergusson? Alicia Witt looks stunning, while the duchess of Pork looks like the back end of a bus.

    2004, David Platt, “DUCHESS OF YORK NUDE”, in uk.politics.misc (Usenet)

    ‘You’ve got a face like the back end of a bus,’ he spat, his eyes raw and burning. Then he grinned, his yellow-stained teeth spreading across his mush [...]

    2005, Will Hadcroft, Anne Droyd And Century Lodge

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
baduglier than homemade soapugly

Translations

French moche comme un pou, laid comme un pou
  • moche comme un pouvery unattractive
  • laid comme un pouvery unattractive
Spanish como una nevera por detrás
  • como una nevera por detrásvery unattractive
Swedish (se ut) som sju svåra år, (se ut) som hej kom och hjälp mig
  • (se ut) som sju svåra årvery unattractive
  • (se ut) som hej kom och hjälp migvery unattractive
Cite this entry
APA

like the back end of a bus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/like%20the%20back%20end%20of%20a%20bus

MLA

“like the back end of a bus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/like%20the%20back%20end%20of%20a%20bus. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “like the back end of a bus,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/like%20the%20back%20end%20of%20a%20bus.

Source: like the back end of a bus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.