asshole

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See also: ass hole

English

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Etymology 1

Variation of earlier arsehole, from Middle English arshole, arcehoole, equivalent to ass +‎ hole. Cognate with Norwegian rasshøl (“asshole”), Swedish arsle (“asshole”). Compare also German Arschloch (“asshole”). Attested from the 1370s, replacing earlier Old English earsþyrel (“anus”, literally “ass hole”). First recorded in Middle English, as ers hole (Glouc. Cath. Manuscript 19. No. I., dated 1379, cited after OED), ars-hole (Bodleian Ashmole MS. 1396, dated ca. 1400, ed. Robert Von Fleischhacker as Lanfrank's "Science of Cirurgie", EETS 102, 1894, cited after OED.)

Slang figurative usage dates to the 20th century; it was used of an uninviting place (compare shithole) in the 1920s, and then of an anti-social or despicable person from at least the 1950s (Harvard Advocate 137, March 1954). It also used appositionally (as in "You're an asshole moralist", T. Chamales, 1957).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈæsˌhoʊl/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

asshole (plural assholes) (US)

  1. (vulgar) The anus.
    • 1910, “Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York Third Department”, in Google Books‎, retrieved 2014-07-27:
      She said she couldn't wiggle when she had the doorknob in her asshole.
    • 1954, Ira Wolfert, An Act of Love: A Completely Retold Version of the Novel, →OCLC, page 54:
      'You talk as if you were born without an asshole,' he cried to Commander Semmes.
  2. (vulgar, derogatory, synecdochically) A jerk; an inappropriately or objectionably mean, inconsiderate, contemptible, obnoxious, intrusive, stupid, and/or rude person.
    • 1965, Jan Cremer, translated by R. E. Wyngaard and Alexander Trocchi, I, Jan Cremer, →OCLC, page 78:
      He philosophised all day about Morandi, Klee, Miró and Picasso, and was such an asshole that he spelled "cunt" with a "d".
  3. (vulgar, by extension, often appositional) Anything unpleasant or undesirable.
    • 1976, Felix Goodson, Sweet Salt, →ISBN, page 254:
      You oughta have better sense than to trust anyone with anything in this asshole place.
    • 1979, Ronald Sukenick, Long Talking Bad Conditions Blues, →ISBN, page 83:
      ... but when he started bugging the bartender to shut the asshole TV off because he wanted to have a serious discussion...
Usage notes
  • Asshole is an American English form; the corresponding British English form is arsehole.
  • As a pejorative for persons, this term is less vulgar and intense than fucker or cunt. While not intrinsically gender-specific, it is primarily applied to men; gender-specific pejoratives such as bitch are often used for women.
Synonyms
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References

Etymology 2

From Scots ass, asse or ash +‎ hole.

Alternative forms

Noun

asshole (plural assholes)

  1. (obsolete, Scotland and Northern England) A receptacle under a fire grate for collecting ashes.
    • 1775, Tim Bobbin , The Miscellaneous Works of Tim Bobbin, Esq., →OCLC, page 68:
      Esshole, Asshole, the hole under the fire to hold ashes.

Scots

Etymology

From ass, asse "ashes" and hole.

Noun

asshole (plural assholes)

  1. (obsolete) The place for receiving the ashes under the grate in a fireplace

References

  • John Jamieson, An etymological dictionary of the Scottish language: in which the words are explained in their different senses, authorized by the names of the writers by whom they are used, or the titles of the works in which they occur, and deduced from their originals, 1818
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