| pain in the ass someone or something that is very annoying. He doesn't win cases — he just makes such a pain in the ass of himself that opponents give up. She acts like all the people she works with are a pain in the neck. Usage notes: also used in the forms a pain in the butt or a pain in the backside: Watering the lawn is always a pain in the butt. I'm really not sure any of these are rude slang; arguably just informal--SL, 1/03 |