English Reference

Word

jackass

Phoneticsjack·ass

US/ˈdʒæˌkæs/

UK/dʒˈækæs/

Definition

n. a person who acts in a very stupid or annoying way. It is also an old name for a male donkey.

n. a foolish or stupid person; a male donkey. Often used as a mild to moderate insult in informal speech.

Examples

“Don't be such a jackass and just apologize.”

“He made a total jackass of himself by shouting at the waiter in front of everyone.”

Examples

simple

“Don't be such a jackass and just apologize.”

contextual

“He made a total jackass of himself by shouting at the waiter in front of everyone.”

Usage

Commonly used in the phrase 'make a jackass of oneself'.

Etymology

From jack + ass.

From the phonetic similarity of "jack, ace" to "jackass".

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

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English Reference