Standard Lemma guide

bum

adj · intj · noun · verb · 27 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /bʌm/
  • Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ʌm
  • CMU ARPABET: B AH1 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of poor quality or highly undesirable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, slang

Examples

  • What kind of bum note was that??
  • The defensive line made a bum rush on the quarterback.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bumfuck, lousy, subpar, ass, bad, base, below par, bottom-shelf, BTEC, bum, cheap, cheap and nasty, cheapshit, cheesy, chintzy, coffee-and, crap, crappo, crappy, craptastic, crapperific, craptabulous, craptacular, cruddy, crummy, dogwater, drecky, flimsy, fourth-rate, gash, garbage, god-awful, inferior, low, low-grade, low-quality, low-rent, made in China, mid, naughty, one-star, poor, poor man's, pound-shop, punk, rinky-dink, ropy, rubbish, sad, schlocky, scrubby, second-rate, shoddy, slazy, slight, slim, shit, shite, shitty, substandard, ticky-tacky, tenth-rate, third-rate, tin-pot, trash, trashy, under par, woeful, wretched

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Unfair.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, slang

Examples

  • The union reps gave us a bum deal!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: iniquitous, unsporting

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Injured and without the possibility of full repair, defective.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, slang

Examples

  • I can’t play football anymore on account of my bum knee.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: duff, janky, riven, banjaxed, broken, bum, busted, fractured, ruptured, bad, borked, broken-down, bung, cactused, crocked, dead, Donald Ducked, down, faulty, flaky, FUBAR, fucked, fuckered up, inoperative, jiggered, kaput, knackered, malfunctioning, munted, nonfunctional, nonoperational, offline, off one's feed, on the blink, on the fritz, out, out of commission, out of gas, out of kilter, out of order, out of service, out of sorts, out of whack, screwed up, stuffed, tits up, toes up, tore up, unfunctional

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Unpleasant or unhappy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, slang

Examples

  • He had a bum trip on that mescaline.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: foul, disagreeable, distasteful, abhorrant, abhorrent, bad, sickly, bum, vile, demonic, disgusting, rancid, fulsome, gooey, grim, gro, grody, gross, grotty, harsh, loathsome, munted, nasty, nauseous, offensive, obnoxious, obscene, rank, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, scabrous, sickening, strident, unpleasant

Antonyms: none provided

5

intj

Meaning 5

An expression of annoyance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, childish, euphemistic

Examples

  • (more vulgar)

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: arse

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

The buttocks.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Commonwealth, childish, informal

Examples

  • Okay, everyone sit on your bum and try and touch your toes.
  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:bum.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: 'tocks, arse, arse cheeks, ass, ass cheeks, back, backside, batty, behind, blessed assurance, booty, botty, bottom, bum, bum cheeks, buns, butt, butt cheeks, buttocks, caboose, cheeks, derriere, dicky, fanny, fourth point of contact, gluteus maximus, glutes, gooseberry-grinder, gyatt, heinie, hiney, hinderlin, hurdies, jacksie, keester, keister, moon, moneymaker, nates, nether cheeks, patootie, peach, posterior, postern, rear, rear end, rump, seat, sit upon, tail, toches, tush, tushie

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

The anus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Commonwealth, childish, informal, specifically

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: a-hole, anus, arsehole, arse, asscunt, asshole, asspussy, ass, back alley, back door, back passage, balloon knot, batty, batty hole, bootyhole, bottom, brown eye, browneye, bumhole, bum, bung-hole, bunghole, bungus, butthole, buttonhole, chocolate channel, chocolate starfish, chuff, cinnamon ring, clacka, clacker, cornhole, craphole, cumhole, dinger, ding, dock, dookie hole, dung funnel, exit hole, fartbox, farthole, fourth point of contact, freckle, fuckhole, fudge tunnel, fundament, Gary Glitter, gump stump, Hershey highway, jacksie, jacksy, keister, leather cheerio, love hole, other end, poop chute, pooper, poophole, rear exit, rectum, ringpiece, rosebud, rusty sheriff's badge, shithole, shitter, sluthole, smelly freckle, starfish, stinkhole, tewel, tooter, tradesman's entrance, turd cutter, vent, wazoo, where the sun don't shine, windpipe, ying-yang

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

An act of anal sex.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: East-Midlands, slang, vulgar

Examples

  • Go for a bum

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bumfuck

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A homeless person, usually a man.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, derogatory, sometimes

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: street bum, tramp, vagrant, wanderer, vagabond, bum, stiff, casual, clochard, derelict, dero, down-and-out, down-and-outer, drifter, epithite, floater, gadling, hobo, Jack out of doors, knight of the road, landleaper, landloper, landlouper, nomad, paker, palliard, pike, piker, ranger, rogue, rolling stone, rough sleeper, scatterling, skelder, skell, stroller, stumblebum, swagman, swaggie, toerag, truant, waif, yagger

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

A lazy, incompetent, or annoying person, usually a man.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: also, broadly, colloquial, derogatory, sometimes

Examples

  • Fred is becoming a bum—he’s not even bothering to work more than once a month.
  • That mechanic’s a bum—he couldn’t fix a yo-yo.
  • That guy keeps interrupting the concert. Throw the bum out!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: loafer, bumpkin, footler, bum, couch potato, dawdler, deadbeat, dogfucker, do-naught, do-nothing, dosser, idler, idleton, faineant, flaneur, get-nothing, good-for-nothing, goldbricker, goof-off, lallygag, lollygagger, laggard, layabout, lazy ass, lazybones, lazy louse, lidderon, lie-abed, loiter-sack, lounge lizard, lounger, morepork, ne'er-do-well, poop, ragabash, shirker, skiver, slacker, slob, slow belly, slug, slugabed, slug-a-bed, slugabug, sluggabed, sluggard, sofa spud, tarrier, truant, wasteman, waster, wastrel

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

A player or racer who often performs poorly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial

Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, sports

Examples

  • Trade him to another team, he’s a bum!

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

A drinking spree.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: binge, bender

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

A humming noise.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, dated, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

noun

Meaning 14

A bumbailiff.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, obsolete, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

verb

Meaning 15

To sodomize; to engage in anal sex.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, colloquial, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bumfuck

Antonyms: none provided

16

verb

Meaning 16

[with off or (nonstandard) off of] To ask someone to give one (something) for free; to beg for something.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, transitive

Examples

  • Can I bum a cigarette off you?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cadge, beg, blag, bum, leech, mooch, mump, scrounge, scunge, sponge, tap, wheedle

Antonyms: none provided

17

verb

Meaning 17

To stay idle and unproductive, like a hobo or vagabond.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, intransitive

Examples

  • I think I’ll just bum around downtown for a while until dinner.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: loiter

Antonyms: none provided

18

verb

Meaning 18

To wet the end of a marijuana cigarette (spliff).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, colloquial, slang, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

19

verb

Meaning 19

To depress; to make unhappy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

20

verb

Meaning 20

To make a murmuring or humming sound.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, intransitive, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

21

adjective satellite

Meaning 21

of very poor quality; flimsy

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cheap, cheesy, chintzy, crummy, punk, sleazy, tinny

Antonyms: none provided

22

noun

Meaning 22

the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he deserves a good kick in the butt
  • are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: buttocks, nates, arse, butt, backside, buns, can, fundament, hindquarters, hind end, keister, posterior, prat, rear, rear end, rump, stern, seat, tail, tail end, tooshie, tush, bottom, behind, derriere, fanny, ass

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: body part

23

noun

Meaning 23

person who does no work

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a lazy bum

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: idler, loafer, do-nothing, layabout

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: nonworker

Narrower terms: clock watcher, couch potato, dallier, dillydallier, dilly-dallier, mope, lounger, dawdler, drone, laggard, lagger, trailer, poke, daydreamer, woolgatherer, goldbrick, goof-off, ne'er-do-well, good-for-nothing, no-account, good-for-naught, lazybones, lie-abed, slugabed, loon, slacker, shirker, sluggard, slug, spiv, sunbather, trifler, whittler

24

noun

Meaning 24

a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • only a rotter would do that
  • kill the rat
  • throw the bum out
  • you cowardly little pukes!
  • the British call a contemptible person a `git'

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rotter, dirty dog, rat, skunk, stinker, stinkpot, puke, crumb, lowlife, scum bag, so-and-so, git

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: unpleasant person, disagreeable person

25

noun

Meaning 25

a disreputable vagrant

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a homeless tramp
  • he tried to help the really down-and-out bums

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tramp, hobo

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: vagrant, drifter, floater, vagabond

Narrower terms: dosser, street person

26

verb

Meaning 26

ask for and get free; be a parasite

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mooch, cadge, grub, sponge

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: obtain

Narrower terms: freeload

27

verb

Meaning 27

be lazy or idle

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Her son is just bumming around all day

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bum around, bum about, arse around, arse about, fuck off, loaf, frig around, waste one's time, lounge around, loll, loll around, lounge about

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: idle, laze, slug, stagnate

History

Etymology

1864, back-formation from bummer, from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”).

Attested since the 1300s, as Middle English bom (found in John Trevisa's 1387 Translation of the 'Polychronicon' of Ranulph Higden, "his bom is oute"), of uncertain origin. Sometimes suggested to be a shortening of botme, botom, bottum (“bottom”), but this is contradicted by the fact that bottom is not attested in reference to the buttocks until the late 1700s. Suggested by some old and modern references to be onomatopoeic. Compare also Old Irish, Scottish Gaelic bun (“base, bottom”). The anal sex senses (noun and verb), as well as the adjective (esp. the first) sense, are expletive-avoiding (i.e. Bowdlerized) shortenings of bumfuck.

See boom.

Abbreviation.

Back-formation from bum out.

Across languages

Translations

190 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: повреден (povreden) — of poor quality or highly undesirable
  • Bulgarian: негоден (negoden) — of poor quality or highly undesirable
  • German: mies — of poor quality or highly undesirable
  • German: schlecht — of poor quality or highly undesirable
  • German: miserabel — of poor quality or highly undesirable
  • German: erbärmlich — of poor quality or highly undesirable
  • German: armselig — of poor quality or highly undesirable
  • Italian: scadente — of poor quality or highly undesirable
  • Bulgarian: нечестен (nečesten) — unfair
  • German: unsauber — unfair
  • German: unfair — unfair
  • German: unlauter — unfair
  • German: unredlich — unfair
  • German: unehrlich — unfair
  • German: nachhaltig beschädigt — defective
  • Hungarian: vacak — defective
  • Hungarian: selejtes — defective
  • Bulgarian: задник (zadnik) — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Dutch: gat — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Dutch: kont — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Dutch: reet — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Dutch: poep — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Dutch: achterwerk — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Dutch: achterste — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Finnish: peppu — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Finnish: perse — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Finnish: takapuoli — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Finnish: pylly — informal: buttocks or anus
  • French: cul — informal: buttocks or anus
  • French: fesses — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Galician: cuíño — informal: buttocks or anus
  • German: Hintern — informal: buttocks or anus
  • German: Po — informal: buttocks or anus
  • German: Popo — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Greek: ποπός (popós) — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Greek: πισινός (pisinós) — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Hungarian: popsi — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Hungarian: popó — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Icelandic: rass — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Icelandic: bossi — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Irish: bundún — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Italian: deretano — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Italian: didietro — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Italian: culo — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Italian: sedere — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Malayalam: ചന്തി (canti) — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Polish: pupa — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Portuguese: nalgas — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Portuguese: cu — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Portuguese: ânus — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Portuguese: traseiro — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Portuguese: bunda — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Portuguese: bumbum — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Romanian: cur — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Romanian: fund — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Russian: за́дница (zádnica) — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Scottish Gaelic: màs — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Scottish Gaelic: tòn — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Spanish: ano — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Spanish: trasero — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Swedish: häck — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Swedish: rumpa — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Swedish: stjärt — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Tamil: குண்டி (kuṇṭi) — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Ukrainian: ду́па (dúpa) — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Ukrainian: сра́ка (sráka) — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Ukrainian: зад (zad) — informal: buttocks or anus
  • Bulgarian: дупе (dupe) — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Cornish: diwbedren f du — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Dutch: billen — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Dutch: bips — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Finnish: peppu — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Finnish: pakarat — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Finnish: takapuoli — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • French: fesses — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Greek: οπίσθια (opísthia) — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Italian: glutei — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Italian: chiappe — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Portuguese: nalgas — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Portuguese: bunda — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Portuguese: nádegas — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Portuguese: bumbum — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Romanian: buci — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Russian: за́дница (zádnica) — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Scottish Gaelic: màs — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Scottish Gaelic: tòn — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Spanish: nalgas — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Swedish: skinkor — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Turkish: popo — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Ukrainian: ду́па (dúpa) — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Ukrainian: сра́ка (sráka) — informal: butt(ocks) specifically
  • Dutch: anus — anus specifically
  • Finnish: perse — anus specifically
  • Finnish: anus — anus specifically
  • Finnish: perseenreikä — anus specifically
  • French: cul — anus specifically
  • French: trou du cul — anus specifically
  • German: Anus — anus specifically
  • Italian: ano — anus specifically
  • Kwak'wala: mengas — anus specifically
  • Portuguese: cu — anus specifically
  • Portuguese: ânus — anus specifically
  • Portuguese: brioco — anus specifically
  • Portuguese: toba — anus specifically
  • Romanian: cur — anus specifically
  • Romanian: anus — anus specifically
  • Scottish Gaelic: màs — anus specifically
  • Scottish Gaelic: tòn — anus specifically
  • Swedish: anus — anus specifically
  • Swedish: rövhål — anus specifically
  • Bulgarian: безделник (bezdelnik) — hobo
  • Bulgarian: нехранимайко (nehranimajko) — hobo
  • Chinese Mandarin: 瘪三 (biēsān) — hobo
  • Chinese Mandarin: 乞丐 (qǐgài) — hobo
  • Dutch: landloper — hobo
  • Dutch: vagebond — hobo
  • Dutch: dakloze — hobo
  • Dutch: zwerver — hobo
  • Esperanto: vagabondo — hobo
  • Esperanto: trampo — hobo
  • Esperanto: vaganto — hobo
  • Esperanto: vagulo — hobo
  • Finnish: hulttio — hobo
  • Finnish: pummi — hobo
  • Finnish: renttu — hobo
  • French: vagabond — hobo
  • German: Obdachloser — hobo
  • German: Penner — hobo
  • German: Sandler — hobo
  • German: Wohnsitzloser — hobo
  • Hungarian: csavargó — hobo
  • Italian: vagabondo — hobo
  • Italian: fannullone — hobo
  • Italian: barbone — hobo
  • Japanese: 乞丐 (kitsukai) — hobo
  • Japanese: くだらないやつ (kudaranai yatsu) — hobo
  • Japanese: ろくでなし (rokudenashi) — hobo
  • Korean: 걸개 (geolgae) — hobo
  • Korean: 거지 (geoji) — hobo
  • Latin: planus — hobo
  • Latin: errō — hobo
  • Latvian: bomzis — hobo
  • Navajo: naʼałjidí — hobo
  • Polish: bezdomny — hobo
  • Polish: menel — hobo
  • Portuguese: sem-teto — hobo
  • Romanian: vagabond — hobo
  • Romanian: boschetar — hobo
  • Romanian: aurolac — hobo
  • Russian: бомж (bomž) — hobo
  • Russian: попроша́йка (poprošájka) — hobo
  • Russian: бродя́га (brodjága) — hobo
  • Slovak: povaľač — hobo
  • Slovak: bezdomovec — hobo
  • Slovak: tulák — hobo
  • Spanish: vagabundo — hobo
  • Spanish: vago — hobo
  • Swedish: lodare — hobo
  • Swedish: lodis — hobo
  • Swedish: luffare — hobo
  • Swedish: uteliggare — hobo
  • Taos: tràmpiʼína — hobo
  • Ukrainian: бомж (bomž) — hobo
  • French: tocard — player or racer who performs poorly
  • German: Blindgänger — player or racer who performs poorly
  • German: Niete — player or racer who performs poorly
  • German: Null — player or racer who performs poorly
  • German: lahme Ente — player or racer who performs poorly
  • German: Versager — player or racer who performs poorly
  • Arabic: تَافِه (tāfih) — a good-for-nothing person
  • Korean: 거지 (geoji) — a good-for-nothing person
  • Spanish: atorrante — a good-for-nothing person
  • Czech: somrovat — to beg for something
  • Czech: vysomrovat — to beg for something
  • Czech: loudit — to beg for something
  • Czech: vyloudit — to beg for something
  • Czech: vyžebrat si — to beg for something
  • Dutch: bietsen — to beg for something
  • Dutch: aftroggelen — to beg for something
  • Finnish: pummata — to beg for something
  • French: taper — to beg for something
  • German: schnorren — to beg for something
  • Italian: scroccare — to beg for something
  • Norwegian: bomme — to beg for something
  • Portuguese: implorar — to beg for something
  • Russian: кля́нчить (kljánčitʹ) — to beg for something
  • French: glander — to stay idle and unproductive
  • French: glandouiller — to stay idle and unproductive
  • Italian: oziare — to stay idle and unproductive
  • Italian: vagabondare — to stay idle and unproductive