Meanings
plural royal pains
- derogatoryoftenslangSomeone or something that is very annoying.
In fact, the only thing royal about you is that you are a royal pain!
2011, Amy Keating Rogers, The Best Night Ever, spoken by Rarity1 more example
And while the spine's no doubt a miraculous array of vertebrae, ligaments, muscle and nerve tissue, it can also be a royal pain in the... well, lower back region.
1992 February, Cincinnati Magazine, volume 25, number 5, page 71 - derogatoryoftenslangA feeling of being very annoyed.
He gave out a big yawn while he said that. Which is something that gives me a royal pain in the ass.
1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 37
Translations
Finnish kiusankappale
- kiusankappalesomeone angering
Hungarian rendkívül/hihetetlenül kiállhatatlan alak
- rendkívül/hihetetlenül kiállhatatlan alaksomeone angering
Spanish más pesado que una vaca en brazos
- más pesado que una vaca en brazossomeone angering
Cite this entry
royal pain. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/royal%20pain
“royal pain.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/royal%20pain. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “royal pain,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/royal%20pain.
Source: royal pain on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.