Word.ws English Dictionary

die on one's arse

die on one's arse verb: to fail completely.

Verb

die on one's arse (third-person singular simple present dies on one's arse, present participle dying on one's arse, simple past and past participle died on one's arse)

  1. (Ireland, UK, idiomatic, slang, vulgar) To fail completely.
    • He explains: "Labour still has its historic competitive advantage – people. Tory party membership is dying on its arse and no one is joining the Liberal Democrats."2013, Andrew Grice, “Michael Dugher on Labour's 2015 election strategy: This will be the most personal election ever”, in The Independent
    • [...] the record failed miserably to chart. "That album died on its arse, to be honest," admits Shane.2014, Ian Glasper, Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980–1984, PM Press, page 18
    Synonyms:
    flop, die a death
  2. (Ireland, UK, idiomatic, slang, vulgar) To be very poorly received by an audience.
    • [...] this was very far from being my best bits. It was me, in various venues, dying on my arse, over and over again.2008, Frank Skinner, Frank Skinner on the Road: Love, Stand-up Comedy and The Queen Of The Night, Arrow Books, published 2009, page 55
    • The worst thing you can say to a comedian right after they come off stage is: "Did you enjoy that?" If somebody says that, I know I’ve died on my arse.2018, Romesh Ranganathan, “Romesh Ranganathan: 'If someone says "did you enjoy that?" I know I've died on my arse'”, in The Guardian
    Synonyms:
    die, bomb

Synonyms of die on one's arse

Forms of die on one's arse

third-person singular presentdies on one's arse
present participledying on one's arse
past participledied on one's arse
pastdied on one's arse
alternative formdie on one's ass

Questions about die on one's arse

What does die on one's arse mean?
Die on one's arse means to fail completely.
What part of speech is die on one's arse?
Die on one's arse is a verb.
What is the past tense of die on one's arse?
The past tense of die on one's arse is died on one's arse.

Words near die on one's arse in the dictionary

  1. die liao
  2. die like flies
  3. die like one lived
  4. die off
  5. die on
  6. die on one's arse
  7. die on the vine
  8. die out
  9. die plate
  10. die plates
  11. die roaring

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: die on one's arse (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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