pain in the neck, a

pain in the neck

An especially irritating, aggravating, or obnoxious person, thing, or situation. You know, Jack, you may be my friend, but you can be a real pain in the neck sometimes! This calculus homework is a pain in the neck. It's not that I don't understand it, it's just so tedious!

See also: neck, pain

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

pain in the neck

Fig. a bother; an annoyance. This assignment is a pain in the neck. Your little brother is a pain in the neck.

See also: neck, pain

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

pain in the neck

Also, pain in the ass or butt . A source of annoyance, a nuisance, as in Joan is a real pain in the neck, with her constant complaining, or Jack told his brother to stop being a pain in the ass. The first of these colloquial expressions dates from about 1900 and originated as a euphemism for the two less polite variants.

See also: neck, pain

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

a pain in the neck

INFORMAL

COMMON If someone or something is a pain in the neck, they are very annoying. He was a pain in the neck. I was glad when he left my department. `Sorry,' he said. `They've forgotten to insure the plane. It's a pain in the neck, but what can I do?'

See also: neck, pain

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

a pain in the neck

an annoying or tedious person or thing. informal

There are a number of vulgar slang alternatives to neck in this idiom, such as a pain in the arse or, in the USA, ass .

See also: neck, pain

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

a pain in the ˈneck

(British English also a pain in the ˈarsetaboo/ˈbum/ˈbackside) (American English also a pain in the ˈasstaboo/ˈbutt) (informal) a person or thing that you find annoying: Her new boyfriend is a real pain in the neck — he never stops talking.

See also: neck, pain

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

pain in the neck

n. a difficult or annoying thing or person. (see also pain in the ass.) My boss is a pain in the neck.

See also: neck, pain

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

pain in the neck, a

A nuisance. This term replaced the earlier pain in the stomach about the turn of the twentieth century; both are euphemisms for a pain in the posterior—pain in the butt, pain in the ass. Rolling Stone (April 7, 1977) had it: “It was an increasing pain in the ass to do the same material each night.”

See also: pain

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer