bugger off

intj

"bugger-off" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bugger off” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Go away.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bugger-off · bugger off · English

bugger off · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "B" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for bugger off
PropertyValue
Headwordbugger off
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechInterjection
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bugger off” in English

bugger offsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bugger off is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for bugger off, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Derived from bugger (idiomatic, obsolete, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) “sodomite”, (idiomatic, vulgar, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) “man”, especially in the colloquialism (idiomatic, dismissal, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) old bugger for “an old man”. The correct English form is bugger off, spelled B-U-G-G-E-R- -O-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Go away.
  2. 2
    An expression of disagreement or disbelief.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how bugger off appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Bugger off! You're joking, aren't you?

Etymology

Derived from bugger (idiomatic, obsolete, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) “sodomite”, (idiomatic, vulgar, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) “man”, especially in the colloquialism (idiomatic, dismissal, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) old bugger for “an old man”.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bugger off"?
"bugger off" is spelled B-U-G-G-E-R- -O-F-F.
What does "bugger off" mean?
As an interjection, "bugger off" means: Go away.
What is the origin of the word "bugger off"?
Derived from bugger (idiomatic, obsolete, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) “sodomite”, (idiomatic, vulgar, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) “man”, especially in the colloquialism (idiomatic, dismissal, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) old bugger for “an old man”. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list