(Discover even more words in The Writer’s Body Lexicon.)

The Science of Butts?

Scientific studies indicate that fat on the buttocks and hips is healthy, whereas fat on the chest and torso isn’t. A hippopotamus might have a healthy butt, but don’t compare someone’s hind end to a hippo’s unless you’re prepared for immediate retribution.

Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations

Backside body language may be overt or subconscious. Try one or more of the following to show emotion.

Attraction
wiggling one’s butt in someone’s direction
tightening one’s buttocks and abdominal muscles

Aggression
hands on hips, fingers pointed toward one’s buttocks, torso leaning forward

Discomfort
sliding one’s buttocks backward or forward in chair
shifting from one butt cheek to the other while one is seated

Disrespect
farting
smacking someone on the butt

Insolence, rudeness
mooning
poking one’s butt toward someone, perhaps while making an obscene gesture

Relaxation
slumping in chair, one’s buttocks forward, head leaning back
standing with hands on one’s butt or in rear pockets

Seduction
twerking
stroking one’s own butt
bending over in front of someone

Tiredness
hands propped on one’s hips, fingers facing down and cradling buttocks

If you need additional beats, consult a body language dictionary. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Adjectives

Descriptors such as adorable, come-hither, mediocre, or yummy express the opinion of the POV character. Choose with caution. If you see a word you don’t understand, don’t use it unless it’s appropriate for a character’s voice.

#
24-carat

A
A-1, adorable, alluring, amazing, ample, ancient, angular, athletic, attractive, au naturel, average, awe-inspiring, awesome

B
babyish, bad, baggy, bare, bawdy, beastly, beefy, beautiful, birthday-suit-bare, bite-worthy, bizarre, blooming, blue-chip, blue-ribbon, blushing, bonny, bony, bootylicious, bouncy, bounteous, bountiful, boyish, braw, brawny, breathtaking, bubble, bumper, bumpy, burly

C and D
cadaverous, charming, cheeky, cherubic, choice, chubby, chunky, cold, colossal, come-hither, compact, concrete, conspicuous, cool, corpulent, cute, dainty, damp, deformed, delectable, delightful, dense, dirty, distinctive, distorted, divine, doughy, downy, dry, dumpy

E
elephantine, emaciated, endearing, enormous, exaggerated, excellent, exciting, expansive, exposed, exquisite, extensive, extra-large, extraordinary, eye-candy, eye-catching

F
fab, fabulous, fake, false, farty, fat, fetid, fiery, fine, firm, flabby, flaccid, flatulent, flawless, flea-infested, fleecy, flexible, flirtatious, foul, foxy, freakish, frozen, full, funky, furry, fusty, fuzzy

G
gamey, gaunt, generous, giant, ginormous, girlish, glabrous, glorious, glossy, glowing, gnarled, gorgeous, grand, granny, greasy, great, grotesque

H and I
hairless, hairy, hard, healthy, heavenly, heavy, hidden, high, hirsute, hollow, hot, huge, humongous, hunky, husky, immense, incomparable, incredible, inflamed, inflexible, insubstantial, irregular, irresistible

J to L
jaunty, jaw-dropping, juicy, jumbo, knobbly, knotted, lackluster, lazy, leaky, lean, leathery, lice-ridden, little, lovely, low-slung, low, lumpy, luscious, lush

M
macho, magnificent, mammoth, mangled, manly, marked, masculine, massive, meager, meaty, mediocre, mega, memorable, middle-aged, mind-blowing, miniscule, misproportioned, moist, monstrous, muscle-bound, muscled, muscular, mushy, musty

N and O
naked, nasty, natural, naughty, neat, nice, nominal, nonexistent, nonpareil, nude, numb, obvious, odious, off-putting, old, oozing, ordinary, oversized

P
padded, pathetic, peachy, peculiar, perfect, perky, pert, phenomenal, picture-perfect, pillowed, pillowy, pilose, pinchable, pinched, plain, plump, ponderous, porky, prodigious, prominent, pronounced, proud, pudgy, puffy, puny

Q and R
raw, red-hot, rigid, ripe, roly-poly, rotund, rough, rubbery, rugged, rumpled

Sa to So
saggy, sassy, saucy, scandalous, scrawny, seductive, sensational, sensitive, sexy, shimmering, shiny, silken, sinewy, sizable, skanky, skimpy, skinny, sleek, slick, slight, slim, smacked, small, smelly, smoldering, smooth, soft, soggy, solid, sore, sorry, so-so

Sp to Sw
sparse, spindly, splendid, splendiferous, spongy, springy, squashed, squished, stained, steamy, steely, sticky, stiff, striking, strong, stunning, stupendous, sturdy, sublime, substantial, succulent, superb, sweaty, sweet

T
tasty, taut, teenage, teensy, tempting, tense, terrific, thick, thin, ticklish, tidy, tight, tiny, titillating, toned, toothsome, tough, tremendous

U and V
unbelievable, uncovered, underfed, uneven, unforgettable, unmistakable, unnatural, unparalleled, unprotected, unremarkable, unsightly, untoned, unyielding, vast, velvety, visible, voluptuous, vulnerable

W to Y
warm, weighty, well-cushioned, well-defined, well-proportioned, well-upholstered, wet, whopping, wondrous, worthless, wounded, wrinkled, XXL, youthful, yummy

Similes and Metaphors

Similes and metaphors can add humor or tension, but they sometimes develop into purple prose. Select what works for you, or try searches at Google Images or YouTube for more inspiration.

Someone’s backend could seem:

as big as a washing machine

as round as a blimp — and just as big

as taut as a kettle drum

like a droopy handlebar mustache

like a French pastry shelf

like a lecherous baboon’s hindquarters

like a pair of steaming thanksgiving hams

like a porn star’s badonkadonk

like an athlete’s glutes

like an overaged stripper’s rump

like an oversized apricot

like an underwear model’s derriere

like binary crescent moons

like the flank of a racehorse

like the sculpted hindquarters of a marble statue

like twin withered prunes

like two melons in a gunny sack

Colors

Most people keep their backsides covered most of the time. Buttocks are usually a lighter shade of a person’s natural skin tone. If a butt is bruised, readers will want to know why.

These colors will function for most purposes. If you need more, see the Color/Tone section of 300+ Words to Describe Skin.

Consider [color]-tinged to add more possibilities.

A to P
ashen, blue, bronze, brown, bruised, cherry, chocolate, creamy, crimson, fair, florid, freckled, painted, pale, pasty, peach, pink, purple

Q to W
red, reddened, rose, rosy, ruby, ruddy, scarlet, snow-white, splotchy, strawberry, sunburnt, tanned, tinted, too-white, whey-white, white

Scents

Scents provide an opportunity to inject humor or vulgarity. Know your audience and genre. I’ve kept the suggestions reasonably tame.

Backsides could smell like:

A to K
another lover, armpits, baby oil, baby powder, baked beans, a bathroom accident, broccoli, bubble bath, buttermilk, cabbage, cheese, chlorine, citrus, cocoa butter, cottage cheese, a dead cat [dog, mouse, rat, hamster, etc.], diaper rash ointment, dirty underwear, fish, flatulence, freshly mown grass, garlic, goose grease, kitty litter

L to Y
leather, lotion, lox, makeup, menthol, mint, a musty blanket, musty underwear, “not tonight,” onions, perfume, pine needles, raccoon poop, sewage, shaving cream, soap, a sow in heat, a stranger’s hands, sumo butt, sunblock, swamp gas, unfamiliar aftershave, urine, week-old sweat, wet dog food, yeast

Shapes

Rear-end shapes don’t remain static. Study people in a mall or at the beach. Note the effect of clothing (or lack of it).

The male protagonist in a Victorian romance might daydream about his intended’s heart-shaped posterior, only to discover on their wedding night that her garments have concealed a flat derriere.

Ah, derriere-deceit: a centuries-old duplicity. Harness it to add tension to your narrative.

A to W
apple-shaped, A-shaped, broad, bubble-shaped, bulbous, bulging, cherry-shaped, concave, curvy, flat, heart shaped, H-shaped, indented, inverted V, misshapen, narrow, O-shaped, pear-shaped, rectangular, round, saddlebag-ish, shapeless, shapely, sloping, square, upturned, well-rounded, wide

Verbs and Phrasal Verbs (1): Transitive

The following verbs and phrases, which take direct objects, reveal how buttocks interact with people and the environment. They or their owners might:

A to H
accentuate, attract, back out of, break [wind], brush (against), bump (against), burst through, cake (with), cause, collapse (against, into), cover, cushion [someone’s head, etc.], dangle out of, disappear into, drop (into, out of), emerge from, face, fill, fit into, flash, hang out of, hold onto

J to R
jam into, knock (against), lift off, melt into, mold to, moon, overflow (out of), park, peek out of, perch on, plant in, pour (into, out of), press (against), prop (on), push (against, into), remain (in), rest (against, in, on), rise (from), roll (against, into), rub (against)

S to W
settle (in, into, on, over), sink (into), sit (in, on), slide (out of, over), smack (against), spill (out of, over), squeeze into, squirm (against, into), squish (against, into), stick (out of, to), support, touch, wedge (against, into), weld to

Verbs and Phrasal Verbs (2): Intransitive

This section lists a few actions or reactions that butts or their owners could experience and others might notice.

A to F
ache, amble, appear, atrophy, balloon, become, bend (over), bloat, bounce, bulge, burn, bustle, chap, clench, contract, dampen, dangle, disappear, drop, expand, extend, fall, fart, fill out, firm, flex, float, flush, freeze

G to R
gleam, glint, gyrate, harden, hurt, itch, jiggle, jut (out), knot, loosen, move, prickle, protrude, pucker, quiver, raise, relax, ripple

S
shake, shift, shimmy, shine, shrink, shrivel, slacken, slide, slope, spasm, spread, squeeze, squinch (up), squirm, stick out, sting, stir, sway, swell, swing (around), swoosh

T to W
tauten, tense, throb, tighten, tingle, twerk, twinge, twitch, undulate, unknot, vibrate, waddle, waggle, warm, wiggle, wither, wobble, wriggle, wrinkle, writhe

Nouns

From literary to colloquial to rude, you’ll find several nouns to replace butt in this list.

A to G
arse, ass, back end, backside, badonkadonk, behind, booty, bottom, breech [archaic], bum, bum-bum, buns, buttocks, caboose, can, cheeks, coit, derriere, docking station, duff, end zone, fanny, fundament, globes, glutes, gluteus maximus

H to T
hams, haunches, heine, hind end, hindquarters, hiney, hunkers, jacksie, keister, moons, nates, nether regions (genitals and buttocks), paddle target, posterior, quoit, rear, rear aspect, rear end, rump, seat, stern, tail, tail end, tochus, tooshie, tuchus, tush, tushie, tushy

Props

Characters interact with their own and others’ buttocks. These props should provide inspiration for story twists and subplots.

B to D
back scratcher, badminton racquet, belt, bicycle, bikini, birthmark, blue jeans, body massager, body-shaper underwear, boil, Brazilian bikini wax, Brazilian butt lift, buckshot, butt bra, butt pads, butt-lifter panties, buttock-reduction surgery, cane, cellulite, cheeks, chiropractor, crack, designer jeans, diaper, dimples

E to N
exercise routine, fingernail marks, flip-flop, flogger, flyswatter, girdle, gravel, gym, hairbrush, handprint, high heels (which make a woman’s buttocks protrude), imprint, liposuction, masseur, masseuse, measuring tape, micro-mini skirt, mini-shorts, mole(s), mud, nude beach, nudist resort

P to R
personal trainer, photocopier, piercing, pimple, ping-pong paddle, piriformis stretch, police lineup, recumbent bike, recumbent-butt syndrome, riding crop, rip in skirt [or shorts, pants, etc.], rolled-up newspaper, rug beater, ruler

S
sand, sandal, sauna shorts, scalding coffee [or tea or water], scar, scrape, scratch, sexting, short shorts, shrapnel, silicone injections, ski machine, skin cream, slip on ice, sliver, spandex tights, spatula, splinter, stain on skirt [or shorts, pants, etc.], stair climber, strap, stray bullet, sunblock, sweat pants, swimming trunks, swimsuit, switch

T to Y
thong, wart, welt(s), whip, whoopee cushion, wooden spoon, workout video, yardstick, yoga pants

Clichés and Idioms

Unless they suit your narrative or dialogue, try to replace worn-out expressions with alternatives like these.

butt ugly: disgusting, repulsive, revolting

hot enough to melt a polar bear’s butt: scorching, smoldering, sweltering

pain in the butt: annoyance, bother, inconvenience

smooth as a baby’s backside: silky, sleek, velvety

to break/bust one’s butt: drudge, strive, sweat, toil

to get off/move one’s butt: go, rise, stand

to gripe one’s butt: annoy, bother, irritate, peeve, pique

to hustle one’s butt: hasten, hurry, rush

to kick butt: beat, defeat, trounce, win

to kick someone’s butt: impel, incentivize, motivate

to park one’s butt: rest, sit

to put one’s butt on the line: gamble, jeopardize, risk, venture

to ream someone’s butt: chastise, rebuke, reprimand, scold

to save someone’s butt: rescue, save

to think the sun shines out of someone’s butt: idolize, revere, venerate

to work one’s butt off: drudge, strive, sweat, toil

unable to find one’s butt with both hands: inept, useless, worthless

when monkeys fly out of my butt: never

with a poker/stick up one’s butt: inflexible, meticulous, obdurate