English Reference

Word

shits

US/ˈʃɪts/

UK/ʃˈɪts/

Definition

n. a very rude way to talk about having diarrhea.

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

Examples

“He stayed home because he had the shits.”

“I think that old seafood gave me the shits because I've been in the bathroom all morning.”

“The traveler warned us that drinking the local tap water would almost certainly result in a bad case of the shits before the week was out.”

Examples

simple

“He stayed home because he had the shits.”

contextual

“I think that old seafood gave me the shits because I've been in the bathroom all morning.”

complex

“The traveler warned us that drinking the local tap water would almost certainly result in a bad case of the shits before the week was out.”

Usage

Always used with 'the' in this sense.

Teaching tip

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

Real-World Examples

“Perkins-Kirkpatrick accepts some may be sceptical of the results, but counters “we are not making these numbers up for shits and giggles”.”
The Guardian · 28 Sept 2026

Etymology

From -s.

shi+ts

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

Synonyms

diarrheathe runs

Antonyms

This entry

Level
C2 · Proficiency
Frequency
Frequent
Updated
Register
Vulgar, Informal

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/shits

English Reference