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Bum in Scrabble and Meaning

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What does bum mean? Is bum a Scrabble word?

How many points in Scrabble is bum worth? bum how many points in Words With Friends? What does bum mean? Get all these answers on this page.

Scrabble® and Words with Friends® points for bum

See how to calculate how many points for bum.

Is bum a Scrabble word?

Yes. The word bum is a Scrabble US word. The word bum is worth 7 points in Scrabble:

B3U1M3

Is bum a Scrabble UK word?

Yes. The word bum is a Scrabble UK word and has 7 points:

B3U1M3

Is bum a Words With Friends word?

Yes. The word bum is a Words With Friends word. The word bum is worth 10 points in Words With Friends (WWF):

B4U2M4

Our tools

Valid words made from Bum

Results

3-letter words (1 found)

BUM,

2-letter words (2 found)

MU,UM,

You can make 3 words from bum according to the Scrabble US and Canada dictionary.

Definitions and meaning of bum

bum

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bʌm/
  • Rhymes: -ʌm

Etymology 1

Attested since the 1300s, as Middle English bom (found in John Trevisa's 1387 Translation of the 'Polychronicon' of Ranulph Higden, "his bom is oute"), of uncertain origin. Sometimes suggested to be a shortening of botme, botom, bottum (“bottom”), but this is contradicted by the fact that bottom is not attested in reference to the buttocks until the late 1700s. Suggested by some old and modern references to be onomatopoeic.

Compare also Old Irish, Scottish Gaelic bun (“base, bottom”).

Noun

bum (plural bums)

  1. (informal or childish, chiefly Commonwealth) The buttocks.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:buttocks
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:bum.
  2. (informal or childish, chiefly Commonwealth) The anus.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:anus
Usage notes
  • While bum is most common in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, in Canada, bum is mainly used when speaking to young children, as in Everyone please sit on your bum and we’ll read a story. In the United States, bum is not often used in this sense (though this may vary from dialect to dialect) except in conscious imitation of British English. The term butt is the most common term in North America except in professional contexts such as medical, legal, and scientific where buttocks is generally used or gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, etc. for the muscles specifically. Glutes is often used in sports medicine and bodybuilding. Ass (originally a dialectal variant of arse) is considered vulgar in North America, whereas backside, behind, bottom and rear are considered to be non-specific terms.
Translations

Verb

bum (third-person singular simple present bums, present participle bumming, simple past and past participle bummed)

  1. (UK, Ireland, transitive, colloquial) To sodomize; to engage in anal sex.

Interjection

bum

  2. (UK, Ireland, childish, euphemistic) An expression of annoyance.
    Synonym: arse (more vulgar)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

1864, back-formation from bummer, from German Bummler (“loafer”), from bummeln (“to loaf”).

Noun

bum (plural bums)

  2. (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) A homeless person, usually a man.
    Synonyms: street bum, tramp, vagrant, wanderer, vagabond; see also Thesaurus:vagabond
  3. (colloquial, sometimes derogatory) A lazy, incompetent, or annoying person, usually a man.
    Synonyms: loafer, bumpkin, footler; see also Thesaurus:idler
  4. (colloquial, sports) A player or racer who often performs poorly.
  5. (colloquial) A drinking spree.
    Synonyms: binge, bender
Translations

Verb

bum (third-person singular simple present bums, present participle bumming, simple past and past participle bummed)

  1. (transitive, colloquial) To ask someone to give one (something) for free; to beg for something.
    Synonyms: (British) cadge; see also Thesaurus:scrounge
  2. (intransitive, colloquial) To stay idle and unproductive, like a hobo or vagabond.
    Synonym: loiter
  3. (transitive, slang, British) To wet the end of a marijuana cigarette (spliff).
Descendants
  • → French: bummer
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: bomma
Translations

Adjective

bum (comparative bummer, superlative bummest)

  1. (slang) Of poor quality or highly undesirable.
  2. (slang) Unfair.
  3. (slang) Injured and without the possibility of full repair, defective.
    Synonym: (UK) duff
  4. (slang) Unpleasant or unhappy.
Quotations
  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:bum.
Derived terms
  • bum trip
Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Back-formation from bum out.

Verb

bum (third-person singular simple present bums, present participle bumming, simple past and past participle bummed)

  1. To depress; to make unhappy.
Usage notes

This expression is typically found in the passive voice or with the subject it. Thus one might use sentences such as

 It really bums me when it rains on a weekend.
 I get bummed every time my vacation ends.

But one would not normally say

 Mosquitos and horseflies bum me every time I go to the lake.

References

  • Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “bum”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Etymology 4

See boom.

Noun

bum (plural bums)

  1. (dated) A humming noise.

Verb

bum (third-person singular simple present bums, present participle bumming, simple past and past participle bummed)

  1. (intransitive) To make a murmuring or humming sound.

Derived terms

Etymology 5

Abbreviation.

Noun

bum (plural bums)

  1. (obsolete) A bumbailiff.
Derived terms

References

Anagrams

  • MBU, UMB, umb, umb-

Albanian

Etymology

From English boom with orthographic adaptation.

Noun

bum

  1. (economics) boom

Indonesian

Pronunciation

  • (Standard Indonesian) IPA(key): /ˈbum/ [ˈbum]
  • Rhymes: -um
  • Syllabification: bum

Etymology 1

From Dutch slagboom (“boom barrier, boom gate”) or boom (“beam, barrier, tree, pole”). Doublet of bom.

Alternative forms

  • bom

Noun

bum (plural bum-bum)

  1. boom barrier, boom gate (a bar or pole that can be lowered or raised to controll the traffic)
  2. (figurative) customs (government agency that handles taxes of imported goods)
    Synonyms: bea cukai, duane, pabean

Etymology 2

From English boom, a onomatopoeic word.

Noun

bum

  1. (economics, business) boom (a period of prosperity, growth, progress, or high market activity)

Further reading

  • “bum” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

bum m (genitive singular bum, nominative plural bumanna)

  1. (sailing) boom

Declension

Synonyms

  • crann scóide
  • bumaile

Mutation

Mizo

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bum/

Verb

bum

  1. swindle
  2. cheat
  3. trick

Polish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbum/
  • Rhymes: -um
  • Syllabification: bum
  • Homophone: boom

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

bum

  1. boom (sound of explosion)
  2. bang (any brief, sharp, loud noise)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Dutch boom.

Noun

bum m inan

  1. alternative form of bom
Declension

Etymology 3

Borrowed from English boom.

Noun

bum m inan

  1. alternative form of boom
Declension

Further reading

  • bum I in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • bum II in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • bum in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ũ
  • Hyphenation: bum

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

bum!

  1. boom (sound of explosion)

Etymology 2

From English boom.

Noun

bum m (plural buns)

  1. boom (a rapid expansion or increase)

Romanian

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

bum

  1. boom

Serbo-Croatian

Verb

bum (Cyrillic spelling бум)

  1. (Kajkavian) first-person singular future of biti

Spanish

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbum/ [ˈbũm]
  • Rhymes: -um
  • Syllabification: bum

Interjection

¡bum!

  1. boom (used to suggest the sound of an explosion)
  2. boom (used to suggest something happening suddenly and unexpectedly)

See also

  • pum
  • pop

Further reading

  • “bum”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Transylvanian Saxon

Noun

bum m

  1. tree

References

  • Siebenbürger Sachsen

Umbrian

Romanization

bum

  1. romanization of 𐌁𐌖𐌌

Volapük

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bum/

Noun

bum (nominative plural bums)

  1. act of building

Declension

Derived terms

  • bumäd
  • bumot

Welsh

Pronunciation

  • (North Wales) IPA(key): /bɨ̞m/
  • (South Wales) IPA(key): /bɪm/

Numeral

bum

  1. soft mutation of pum (“five”)

Mutation


Source: wiktionary.org