pain in the ass
"pain-in-the-ass" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pain in the ass” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Something or someone that causes discomfort, frustration, or annoyance.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pain in the ass |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pain in the ass” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for pain in the ass is 15 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for pain in the ass in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Dysphemistically modelled after pain in the neck. First attested in the early to mid-20th century. The correct English form is pain in the ass, spelled P-A-I-N- -I-N- -T-H-E- -A-S-S.
Definition
- 1Something or someone that causes discomfort, frustration, or annoyance.
- 2Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pain, in, the, ass.
Etymology
Dysphemistically modelled after pain in the neck. First attested in the early to mid-20th century.
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
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Using “pain in the ass”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-I-N- -I-N- -T-H-E- -A-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.