# arse

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɑːs/ · frequency rank #13,462

## Definitions
1. A person's buttocks; the bottom, the backside. Also: the anus; the rectum.
2. A stupid, pompous, arrogant, mean or despicable person.
3. Used in similes to express something bad or unpleasant.
4. A person; the self; (reflexively) oneself or one's person, chiefly their body; (by extension) one's personal safety, or figuratively one's job, prospects, etc.

## Etymology
From Middle English ars, ers, from Old English ærs, ears, from Proto-West Germanic *ars, from Proto-Germanic *arsaz (compare Dutch aars and German Arsch), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁órsos (“backside, buttocks”).

## Easily confused with
- **as** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-as)
- **ask** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-ask)
- **art** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-art)
- **ass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-ass)
- **ate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-ate)
- **ash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-ash)
- **ave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-ave)
- **aye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-aye)
- **awe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-awe)
- **axe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-axe)
- **ASA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-asa)
- **AWS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-aws)
- **ASD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-asd)
- **asp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-asp)
- **ASU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-asu)
- **ASL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-asl)
- **asc** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-asc)
- **asm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-asm)
- **Asi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-asi)
- **asf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arse-vs-asf)

## Common misspellings (4)
`arrse`, `arsse`, `asre`, `rase`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/arse