pain in the neck

Idioms

Also,. 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.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This isn’t merely a pain in the neck for Mr. Mandelson.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

You and I might translate that as: "The saga over Angela's tax was a total pain in the neck, but it's given us the excuse to make some of the changes we fancied anyway."

From BBC • Sep. 6, 2025

Dr. Sollmann pointed out that non-invasive treatment options that directly target the site of pain in the neck muscles could be highly effective and safer than systemic drugs.

From Science Daily • Nov. 29, 2023

The debt ceiling came into being in 1917 when Congress grew weary of having to vote on every proposed bond issuance, which it considered a pain in the neck.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2023

Some kids said no, but a lot of kids said yes because they figured Howard was going to be a pain in the neck.

From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023