bum meaning

UK /bʌm/ US /bʌm/ 1 syllable

bum (noun): a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible.

bum has 7 meanings in this dictionary, as noun, verb and adjective.

bum as a noun

  1. a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible
    • 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'

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

    Type of: unpleasant person

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

    Synonyms: tramp, hobo

    Type of: vagrant

    Kinds: dosser

  3. person who does no work
    • a lazy bum

    Synonyms: idler, loafer, do-nothing, layabout

    Type of: nonworker

    Kinds: clock watcher, couch potato, dallier, dawdler, daydreamer, goldbrick, lazybones, lie-abed, loon, slacker, sluggard, spiv

  4. the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
    • he deserves a good kick in the butt
    • are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?

    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

    Type of: body part

bum as a verb

  1. ask for and get free; be a parasite

    Synonyms: mooch, cadge, grub, sponge

    Type of: obtain

    Kinds: freeload

  2. be lazy or idle
    • Her son is just bumming around all day

    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

    Type of: idle

bum as an adjective

  1. of very poor quality; flimsy

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

    Similar: inferior

How to pronounce bum

bum is pronounced /bʌm/ in British English and /bʌm/ in American English. It has 1 syllable.

Words that rhyme with bum

Word lists: words starting with BU · words ending in UM · 3-letter words

More about bum on Wikipedia.