pain in the ass
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A source of annoyance, trouble, or unhappiness: A vulgar, informal term for a person, thing, or situation that is extremely irritating, bothersome, or difficult to deal with.
Usage and Examples
- Noun:
- Filling out all this paperwork is a real pain in the ass.
- The constant construction noise next door has become a major pain in the ass.
- He can be a charming guy, but when he's late, he's a total pain in the ass.
Advanced Usage and Notes
- Register: This term is considered vulgar and highly informal. It should be avoided in formal, professional, or polite contexts.
- Intensifiers: Often used with intensifiers like "real," "total," "absolute," or "major" to emphasize the level of annoyance.
- Euphemistic Variants: In less vulgar speech, people often use the softened version "pain in the neck" or "pain in the butt" to convey a similar, though less intense, meaning.
Variants and Related Words
- Pain in the neck (n.): A milder, non-vulgar synonym for an annoying person or thing.
- This software bug is a real pain in the neck to fix.
- Pain in the butt (n.): Slightly informal but less vulgar than "ass."
- Nuisance (n.): A more formal term for an annoying person or thing.
- Bother (n.): Something that causes minor trouble or irritation.
- Hassle (n.): An irritating inconvenience.
Synonyms
- Annoyance
- Irritant
- Headache (informal)
- Plague (informal, as in "That guy is a plague.")
- Thorn in one's side
Related Idioms and Expressions
- A royal pain: An expression emphasizing something is a major nuisance.
- Getting a visa for that country was a royal pain.
- To be more trouble than it's worth: Describes a situation where the annoyance outweighs the benefit.
- Fixing that old car is more trouble than it's worth.
Noun
- something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness
- washing dishes was a nuisance before we got a dish washer
- a bit of a bother
- he's not a friend, he's an infliction