Meanings
plural pains in the ass
- CanadaUScountableidiomaticslanguncountablevulgarSomething 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.
2019 January 30, Tim Denning, “How To Use A Pain-In-The-Ass Job To Your Advantage And Come Out A Winner”, in Medium, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2020, retrieved 07 Feb 20251 more example
His one obligation is that, every day, he must gather $10,000 worth of items from the store – stuff he doesn’t need: electronics, nappies, pet food and so forth – and exchange them for the cash. This is both an acute pain in the ass, and the one thing that prevents him from going insane with boredom. )
2025 June 3, Mark O’Connell, “‘The Mozart of the attention economy’: why MrBeast is the world’s biggest YouTube star”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 07 Jun 2025Synonyms: pain in the back, pain in the backside, pain in the bum, pain in the butt, pain in the keister, pain in the neck, pain in the rear, pain in the dick
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomething or someone that causes discomfort, frustration, or annoyance.
More synonyms by meaning
nounsomething or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Dysphemistically modelled after pain in the neck. First attested in the early to mid-20th century.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans pyn in die nek
- pyn in die neksomething that causes discomfort
Arabic أَلَم فِي الْمُؤَخَّرَة
- أَلَم فِي الْمُؤَخَّرَة (ʔalam fī l-muʔaḵḵara)something that causes discomfort
Catalan gra al cul
- gra al culsomething that causes discomfort
Chinese Mandarin 眼中釘 /眼中钉
- 眼中釘 /眼中钉 (yǎnzhōngdīng)something that causes discomfort
Czech vopruz, otrava
- vopruzsomething that causes discomfort
- otravasomething that causes discomfort
- prudičsomething that causes discomfort
- osina v zadkusomething that causes discomfort
- opruzsomething that causes discomfort
Dutch strontvervelend
- strontvervelendsomething that causes discomfort
Finnish riesa, maanvaiva
- riesasomething that causes discomfort
- maanvaivasomething that causes discomfort
- kiusanhenkisomething that causes discomfort
- kiusankappalesomething that causes discomfort
- piikki lihassasomething that causes discomfort
French casse-pied, emmerde
- casse-piedsomething that causes discomfort
- emmerdesomething that causes discomfort
- emmerdeursomething that causes discomfort
- épine au piedsomething that causes discomfort
- pète-couillessomething that causes discomfort
- pète-burnessomething that causes discomfort
German Nervensäge
- Nervensägesomething that causes discomfort
Greek κακός μπελάς
- κακός μπελάς (kakós belás)something that causes discomfort
Hebrew קוץ בתחת
- קוץ בתחת (kots batákhat)something that causes discomfort
Hungarian púp a hátán
- púp a hátánsomething that causes discomfort
Icelandic kvalræði
- kvalræðisomething that causes discomfort
Irish pian sa tóin
- pian sa tóinsomething that causes discomfort
Italian seccatura, rompicoglioni
- seccaturasomething that causes discomfort
- rompicoglionisomething that causes discomfort
- scocciatoresomething that causes discomfort
- palo in culosomething that causes discomfort
- rompipallesomething that causes discomfort
- seccatoresomething that causes discomfort
- cagacazzosomething that causes discomfort
- cacacazzosomething that causes discomfort
Persian دردسر
- دردسر (dardesar)something that causes discomfort
Polish wrzód na tyłku, wrzód na dupie
- wrzód na tyłkusomething that causes discomfort
- wrzód na dupiesomething that causes discomfort
Portuguese pé no saco
- pé no sacosomething that causes discomfort
Romanian ghimpe în coaste, junghi în coaste
- ghimpe în coastesomething that causes discomfort
- junghi în coastesomething that causes discomfort
- durere de capsomething that causes discomfort
- bătaie de capsomething that causes discomfort
- pacostesomething that causes discomfort
Russian головна́я боль, геморро́й
- головна́я боль (golovnája bolʹ)something that causes discomfort
- геморро́й (gemorrój)something that causes discomfort
- зану́да (zanúda)something that causes discomfort
- зано́за в за́днице (zanóza v zádnice)something that causes discomfort
Spanish patada en las bolas, patada en los huevos
- patada en las bolassomething that causes discomfort
- patada en los huevossomething that causes discomfort
- coñazosomething that causes discomfort
- grano en el culosomething that causes discomfort
Swedish plåga
- plågasomething that causes discomfort
Yiddish געשוויר אויפֿן הינטן
- געשוויר אויפֿן הינטן (geshvir oyfn hintn)something that causes discomfort
Cite this entry
pain in the ass. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pain%20in%20the%20ass
“pain in the ass.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pain%20in%20the%20ass. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pain in the ass,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pain%20in%20the%20ass.
Source: pain in the ass on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.