bum
1 Americannoun
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a person who avoids work and sponges on others; loafer; idler.
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a tramp, hobo, or derelict.
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Informal. an enthusiast of a specific sport or recreational activity, especially one who gives it priority over work, family life, etc..
a ski bum; a tennis bum.
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Informal. an incompetent person.
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a drunken orgy; debauch.
verb (used with object)
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bums,
present (3rd person singular)
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bummed,
past participle, past
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bumming
present participle
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Informal. to borrow without expectation of returning; get for nothing; cadge.
He's always bumming cigarettes from me.
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Slang. to ruin or spoil.
The weather bummed our whole weekend.
verb (used without object)
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bums,
present (3rd person singular)
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bummed,
past participle, past
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bumming
present participle
-
to sponge on others for a living; lead an idle or dissolute life.
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to live as a hobo.
adjective
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Slang. of poor, wretched, or miserable quality; unsatisfactory.
I figured $300 was a bum deal for a minor repair, but I paid it anyway.
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Slang. fraudulent or fake.
He was accused of issuing a bum check for $2920.
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Slang. disappointing; unpleasant.
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Slang. erroneous or ill-advised; misleading.
I think the gauge is giving me a bum readout.
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Slang. physically disabled, impaired, or injured.
a bum leg.
verb phrase
idioms
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on the bum,
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living or traveling as or in a manner suggesting that of a hobo or tramp.
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in a state of disrepair or disorder.
The oven is on the bum again.
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-
bum (someone) out, to disappoint, upset, or annoy.
It really bummed me out that she could have helped and didn't.
noun
noun
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a disreputable loafer or idler
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a tramp; hobo
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an irresponsible, unpleasant, or mean person
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a person who spends a great deal of time on a specified sport
baseball bum
-
-
living as a loafer or vagrant
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out of repair; broken
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verb
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(tr) to get by begging; cadge
to bum a lift
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to live by begging or as a vagrant or loafer
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to spend time to no good purpose; loaf; idle
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slang to disappoint, annoy, or upset someone
adjective
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(prenominal) of poor quality; useless
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wrong or inappropriate
a bum note
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bumsimple
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bumssimple
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have bummedperfect
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has bummedperfect
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am bummingprogressive
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are bummingprogressive
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is bummingprogressive
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have been bummingperfect progressive
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has been bummingperfect progressive
Past
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bummedsimple
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had bummedperfect
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was bummingprogressive
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were bummingprogressive
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had been bummingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bum1
An Americanism first recorded in 1860–65; perhaps a shortening of or back formation from bummer 1; adjective senses of unclear relation to sense “loafer” and perhaps of distinct origin
Origin of bum2
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English bom; of uncertain origin
Explanation
Your bum is your bottom. This word can also be used to refer to a vagrant, although it's generally considered offensive or insensitive. Bum is a name sometimes given to a beggar or vagrant: someone who tries to bum change from you. This word can also be used as a general insult, as in "The Yankees are bums!" (if you're a Red Sox fan) or "The Red Sox are bums!" (if you're a Yankees fan). A false accusation is a bum rap. As a verb, bum is a term for lazing around, as in, "I didn't have any homework this afternoon, so I just bummed around and played video games."
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.
See Examples For:
We thought we'd found the issue in the morning, but it turned out to be a bit of a bum read and same again today.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
When he substitutes a pitcher or a hitter and it works out, Dave is a hero, and when it doesn’t work out, Dave is a bum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
Baker, a Dartmouth College grad and former ski bum who once worked as a housekeeper at a mountain lodge in Utah, started working at Fidelity in 1999 as an analyst.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Advancements that seek to end the friction of reality — the freak occurrences, edge cases and bum luck of a given day — ultimately sap the world of excitement and color.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
Her face seemed to bum as the light touched it.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
Pondering the potential heat death of humanity is a bummer of a way to start the week, I know.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2026
While that data was more reliable, the $60 upcharge for the upper arm band is a bummer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Certainly not from the game itself; basketball moves fast, and a bummer can become a bust in a blink.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
It’s a major betrayal for Rick and a bummer for the audience, who never get to see the two make music together again.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
Which shouldn’t have been a huge surprise, but it was still a bummer to sit down to my first breakfast at the mountain to his scowling face.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Say," he cried, "Snake's Fall is just the bummest location this side of the Sahara on a Sunday.
From The Son of his Father by Ridgwell Cullum
Aspen has been soul-searching for half a century, since hippie ski bums began ceding ground to luxury real-estate developers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Back then, Folger says, the rural western outpost was filled with "back-to-the-land hippies, college students, cowboys and ski bums".
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Wells said he was angry with Gill because he felt he had been "using people around him, like me I guess, to put bums on seats".
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
But then, the bon ton, not content with padding only bums, moved the bustle round to the tummy at the front.
From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025
He feels it personally and it bums him.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
“I’m both envious,” she said, “and a bit bummed out.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
“In the office, we actually get really bummed when we realize we’re having a conversation and we forgot to turn on Granola,” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Bowen Yang is in a huge number of commercials these days, and every time I see him, I get a little more bummed out.
From Slate ● Feb. 8, 2026
He responded: At the Hyatt, so bummed the Dojo is gone and probably my house too How about you?
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2025
I was trying not to sound as bummed as I was.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
We had this life that was mainly just bumming around on your bike and drinking coffee.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2023
The NFL has squeezed its overtime period from 15 minutes to 10, bumming out some.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2021
“She and I had been bumming around from shelter to shelter, but this is the place,” Summerfield said, calling it a “well-hidden secret” with wonderful staff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2021
And it left the network’s morning anchors, Savannah Guthrie and Mike Tirico, juggling tone and focus, trying to meet the moment without bumming out the audience it wants to tune in for two weeks.
From New York Times ● Jul. 23, 2021
I thought maybe I might stop in a phone booth and give old Jane Gallagher a buzz before I started bumming my way west, but I wasn't in the mood.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
