Skip to main content
face like the back end of a bus

face like the back end of a bus

9.9
A face that people think is very ugly
  • idiom
  • Offensive
translation icon : cara de culo
  • When she woke up with no makeup, she joked she looked like she had a face like the back end of a bus.

Examples

  • It’s rude to say someone has a face like the back end of a bus, so please be kind!

  • He was so self-deprecating, often saying he had a face like the back end of a bus.

  • He has a face like the back end of a bus!

  • Why does she have a face like the back end of a bus?

  • He often joked that he had a face like the back end of a bus whenever he felt unattractive.

  • It's not polite to comment that someone has a face like the back end of a bus because it can hurt their feelings.

  • She laughed and said she must have a face like the back end of a bus after seeing the unflattering photos.

Synonyms

face that would stop a clock
vsface like the back end of a bus
  • Offensive
9.9

A face so ugly that it shocks people

targets a person's ugly look with an informal simile
face like a bag of spanners
vsface like the back end of a bus
  • Offensive
9.9

A face that looks very ugly

uses vehicle imagery instead of tools to insult appearance
like a bag of spanners
vsface like the back end of a bus
  • Offensive
9.9

Looks very ugly and a little funny, especially in the face

focuses more sharply on someone's ugly look using a vehicle simile
back end of a bus
vsface like the back end of a bus
  • Offensive
9.9

Something that looks very ugly and unpleasant

applies the vehicle simile specifically to a person's look in a blunt way

Antonyms

pretty face
  • Offensive
33 4.2

An attractive person who others think has nothing besides looks

19 3.2

The quality that makes people notice and like someone's looks or character

How Attractive

beautiful
1.0
plain
50 2.5
ugly
866 1.0
face like the back end of a bus
  • Offensive
9.9
hideous
171 5.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

face + like + the + back + end + of + a + bus

The simile is compositionally transparent: a learner who knows 'face', 'back', 'end' and 'bus' can infer that the comparison likens someone's face to the unattractive rear of a bus, i.e. very ugly. This follows a common cross-linguistic simile pattern (X like Y) and does not require idiomatic knowledge beyond recognizing the insulting comparison.

Etymology

Face like the back end of a bus paints a picture of a face like the dirty, dented back end of a bus, which gets mud, scratches and marks from the road. So it is a rude way to say someone is 'very unattractive'.