Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

the pits

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.72 in modern English

Syllables: the pits
IPA

12

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

1

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Something miserable or unpleasant.

Slang

Example Sentences

"This whole experience has been the pits."
"A bad exam experience would be ‘I'm wasted’ at Howard,..‘It was the pits’ at Vassar."
"Ain't that the pits... I'm actually gonna have to wait for another customer in this crazy heat? That's harsh..."

Etymology

Theorized to be a shortened form of armpits, i.e., somewhere or something unpleasant or undesirable. First use appears c. 1953. See cite below.

Usage

Slang

Synonyms

the dumps hell hell on earth hellhole snake pit inferno

Questions

What does the pits mean?: Something miserable or unpleasant.
Where does the pits come from?: Theorized to be a shortened form of armpits, i.e., somewhere or something unpleasant or undesirable. First use appears c. 1953. See cite below.

How to pronounce the pits

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “the pits”.
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