die in the ass

verb

"die-in-the-ass" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“die in the ass” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To fail to function properly.

Corpus desk

Index EN-die-in-the-ass · die in the ass · English

die in the ass · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" 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 die in the ass
PropertyValue
Headworddie in the ass
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “die in the ass” in English

die in the assranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

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

Rare enough to double-check

die in the ass is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for die in the ass in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is die in the ass, spelled D-I-E- -I-N- -T-H-E- -A-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    To fail to function properly.
  2. 2
    To be left unresolved.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. My computer died in the ass yesterday when I tried to turn it on.
  2. Our plans to go to France died in the ass.

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 "die in the ass"?
"die in the ass" is spelled D-I-E- -I-N- -T-H-E- -A-S-S.
What does "die in the ass" mean?
As a verb, "die in the ass" means: To fail to function properly.
What language does "die in the ass" come from?
"die in the ass" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list