pimple

P3I1M3P3L1E1
/ˈpɪmp(ə)l/

noun

An inflamed (raised and colored) spot on the surface of the skin that is usually painful and fills with pus.

“He's such a pimple! I wish he'd stop being so irritating!”

Similar
pimple and blotchackeracnepustulespotplookzithickey
OriginMiddle English pymple ← Old English *pipel ← Proto-Indo-European *pap- →
UncommonScrabble 12
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Meanings

nounpimple (plural pimples)

plural pimples

  1. dermatologyAn inflamed (raised and colored) spot on the surface of the skin that is usually painful and fills with pus.

    I had to pop that embarrassing pimple, it was huge and red and on the tip of my nose.

  2. derogatoryslangAn annoying person.

    He's such a pimple! I wish he'd stop being so irritating!

  3. CockneyslangScotch (whisky)

    Synonyms: pimple and blotch

verbpimple (third-person singular simple present pimples, present participle pimpling, simple past and past participle pimpled)

present singular third person pimples · participle present pimpling · participle past pimpled · past pimpled

  1. alsofigurativelytransitiveTo mark, cover or disfigure (something) as with pimples.
  2. intransitiveTo develop pimples.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounScotch (whisky)

Similar
pimple and blotch
Similar
ackeracnepustulespotplookzit

More synonyms by meaning

nouna small inflamed elevation of the skin; a pustule or papule; common symptom in acne

Similar
hickeyzit
Broader
acne
Also see
boilhickeyzit

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pap-“pock mark, nipple”
  2. Old Englishpiplian
  3. Old English*pipel
  4. Middle Englishpymple
  5. Englishpimple

Early Modern English pimple, pumple, from Middle English pymple, pympyl, of uncertain origin but probably a nasalized variant of Old English *pipel, *pypel, from Old English piplian, pyplian (“to break out in pimples, show eruptions”), probably related to Latin papula (“pimple, pustule”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pap- (“pock mark, nipple”)). Akin to Old English pipliġende (“having shingles”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Indo-European

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic بَثْرَة, بَثْر
  • بَثْرَة (baṯra)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • بَثْر (baṯr)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Basque oilaur
  • oilaurinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Bulgarian пъ́пка, пъ́пчица
  • пъ́пка (pắpka)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • пъ́пчица (pắpčica)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Catalan bua, buba
  • buainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • bubainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Chinese Mandarin 疙瘩, 丘疹
  • 疙瘩 (gēda)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • 丘疹 (qiūzhěn)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Czech uher, pupínek
  • uherinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • pupínekinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Danish filipens, bums
  • filipensinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • bumsinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Dutch puist, pukkel
  • puistinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • pukkelinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • etterannoying person
  • puistenkopannoying person
  • ellendelingannoying person
Esperanto akno, aknero
  • aknoinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • akneroinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Estonian vistrik
  • vistrikinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Finnish näppy, finni
  • näppyinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • finniinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • märkänäppyläinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
French bouton, pustule
  • boutoninflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • pustuleinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • casse-couillesannoying person
German Pickel, Oas
  • Pickelinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • Oasinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • Wimmerlinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Greek σπυρί, σπυράκι
  • σπυρί (spyrí)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • σπυράκι (spyráki)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • κακό σπυρί (kakó spyrí)annoying person
Hebrew פִּצְעוֹן
  • פִּצְעוֹן (pitson)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Hindi फोड़ा, फुड़िया
  • फोड़ा (phoṛā)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • फुड़िया (phuṛiyā)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • स्फोटिका (sphoṭikā)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • फुंसी (phunsī)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Hungarian pattanás
  • pattanásinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Icelandic nabbi, bóla
  • nabbiinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • bólainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • graftarbólainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Indonesian jerawat
  • jerawatinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Irish goirín
  • goiríninflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Italian pustola, pustoletta
  • pustolainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • pustolettainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • brufoloinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • foruncoloinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Japanese 面皰, 丘疹
  • 面皰 (nikibi)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • 丘疹 (kyūshin)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Korean 여드름
  • 여드름 (yeodeureum)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Latin pustula, papula
  • pustulainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • papulainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Latvian pūte
  • pūteinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Lithuanian spuogas
  • spuogasinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Māori kiritona, para
  • kiritonainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • parainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • mariaoinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • huahuainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • mokamokainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • pōreareaannoying person
Norwegian Bokmål kvise, kveise
  • kviseinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • kveiseinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Persian جوش
  • جوش (juš)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Polish pryszcz, krosta
  • pryszczinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • krostainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Portuguese borbulha, espinha
  • borbulhainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • espinhainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Romanian coș
  • coșinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Russian прыщ, пры́щик
  • прыщ (pryšč)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • пры́щик (prýščik)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • у́горь (úgorʹ)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • па́пула (pápula)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • пупы́рышек (pupýryšek)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • негодя́й (negodjáj)annoying person
Scottish Gaelic pluc
  • plucinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Slovak pupienok
  • pupienokinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Spanish espinilla, grano
  • espinillainflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • granoinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • barroinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • barrilloinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • barritoinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • comedón cerradoinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • comedón blancoinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • granujoinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • chupoinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • pendejoannoying person
Swedish finne
  • finneinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Tagalog tagihawat, katil
  • tagihawatinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • katilinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Thai สิว
  • สิว (sǐu)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Turkish sivilce, sızanak
  • sivilceinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • sızanakinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Ukrainian прищ, вуго́р
  • прищ (pryšč)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • вуго́р (vuhór)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Vietnamese mụn nhọt, mụn
  • mụn nhọtinflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • mụninflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Welsh tosyn, ploryn
  • tosyninflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • ploryninflamed spot on the surface of the skin
  • pigodyninflamed spot on the surface of the skin
Yiddish פּרישטש
  • פּרישטש (prishtsh)inflamed spot on the surface of the skin

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pimple

simpledimplecrimplelimplerimplescrimpleshrimpletimplewimple
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

pimple. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pimple

MLA

“pimple.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pimple. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pimple,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pimple.

Source: pimple on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.