ENGLISH
REFERENCE

shits

n.
US //ˈʃɪts// UK //ʃˈɪts// shits
  1. 1 stomach illness (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Vulgar Informal Medicine

    a very rude way to talk about having diarrhea.

    A vulgar, plural-only noun referring to an attack of diarrhea.

    Example

    He couldn't go to work because he had a bad case of the shits.

    Example

    The entire hiking group came down with the shits after drinking untreated water from the stream.

    Usage

    Always used with 'the' in this sense.

    Teacher's tip

    This is highly offensive in professional or polite settings; students should use 'diarrhea' or 'stomach bug' instead.
Etymology 1

From -s.

Etymology 2

shi+ts

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

Last updated June 20, 2026