As or ass?
as is an adverb meaning “To such an extent or degree; to the same extent or degree”; ass is a noun meaning “Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the…”. Use as as an adverb and ass as a noun (as is also a noun: “A libra, a Roman pound”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) as is about 59 times as common as ass.
What is the difference between as and ass?
| as | ass | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adverb, conjunction, preposition, noun, phrase, prefix, verb | noun, adjective, particle, suffix |
| Meaning | To such an extent or degree; to the same extent or degree Considered to be, in relation to something else; in the relation (specified) In the (same) way or manner that; to the (same) degree that | Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the domesticated of which are used as beasts of burden vulgarA stupid or inconsiderate person |
| Example | She regards her kids as (being) holy as saints | Near-synonyms: fool, idiot, jerk, asswipe; see also Thesaurus:jerk |
| Forms | none | asses |
| Pronunciation | /əz/ /æz/ [æz] | /æs/ /ɑːs/ |
| In writing | 5,888 times per million words | 100 times per million words |
Sources: as and ass in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of as and ass
as
- 1
To such an extent or degree; to the same extent or degree
She regards her kids as (being) holy as saints
- 2
In the (same) way or manner that; to the (same) degree that
Do as I say!
- 3
Introducing a basis of comparison, with an object in the objective case
You are not as tall as my sister
- 4
A libra, a Roman pound
- 5
AustraliaslangUsed to intensify an adjective; very much; extremely
sweet as
- 6
UKInitialism of Advanced Supplementary
- 7
Initialism of alayhi as-salaam
- 8
Away from
assail, assoil, assault, assoil, assemble, assent
ass
- 1
Any of several species of horse-like animals, especially Equus asinus, the domesticated of which are used as beasts of burden
- 2
USslangvulgarThe buttocks
- 3
CanadaUSslangvulgarOf low quality; bad
- 4
USslangvulgarSynonym of -ass (used to intensify an adjective)
That was one big ass fish!
- 5
CanadaUSslangvulgarUsed to intensify an adjective
That's a big-ass wrench you've got there
- 6
Abbreviation of assistant
- 7
Initialism of argininosuccinate synthase
- 8
vulgarA stupid or inconsiderate person
Near-synonyms: fool, idiot, jerk, asswipe; see also Thesaurus:jerk
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, as or ass?
as appears 5,888 times per million words; ass 100 times per million words.
as 5,888 times per million wordsass 100 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search as vs ass?
“as vs ass” is searched about 40 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“ass vs as”, “as or ass”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.