noun / verb
bum
BUM/bʌm/
A disparaging term for someone seen as living without steady work.
The frustrated housemate calls the idle gamer a bum for refusing to help.
Etymology
Bum shortens bummer, an older term for an idle person. The shortening retained the disparaging judgment of someone regarded as a loafer or tramp.
In context
couch watching TV or something. That's the way I felt. And then in the next second or two, I realize that I'm laying in the bushes, that I'm a drunk bum. And I started sobbing.
More examples
- Could I bum a ride to the station?
- She resented being called a bum while looking for work.
- He bummed a cigarette from a stranger.
Forms
bum · bums · bummed · bumming
Similar words
- loafer
- Also disparaging, but chiefly suggests idleness rather than homelessness.