make an ass

M

make an ass (idiom / metaphor)
/ˌmeɪk ən ˈæs/

Meanings

• To behave foolishly and embarrass yourself in front of others.
• To make someone look stupid or ridiculous.
• To act in a silly, awkward, or immature way.
• To become the object of laughter because of foolish behavior.

Synonyms: make a fool of oneself; embarrass oneself; act like a fool; look ridiculous; play the fool; make a spectacle of oneself; behave stupidly.

Example Sentences

1. Michael completely made an ass of himself by arguing loudly with the waiter in a crowded restaurant.
2. The older students tried to make an ass of the freshman during the school event.
3. Jacob tends to make an ass of himself whenever he tries too hard to impress people at parties.
4. One careless comment during the interview can make an ass of even a qualified candidate.

Etymology and Origin

Symbolic Roots of the Expression

The idiom “make an ass” comes from a very old idea: the donkey stands for clumsiness and foolishness. Long before English speakers used the phrase, ancient storytellers in Greece and Rome painted the donkey as slow-witted and stubborn. People saw the animal‘s big ears and patient plodding as signs of stupidity, so calling someone an “ass” naturally meant they had acted like a fool. This animal image slipped quietly into everyday talk over centuries, setting the stage for the fuller expression we know today.

Shakespeare’s Role in Popularizing It

The specific wording “make an ass of” first took shape on the English stage in the late 1500s. William Shakespeare wove the idea into a comedy where magic turns a simple weaver named Bottom into a creature with a donkey’s head. The character feels mocked by his friends and blurts out that they are trying to make him look ridiculous. In that moment the phrase captured both the literal donkey and the deeper sense of embarrassment, giving the idiom its lasting punch.

The Earliest Printed Record

The line appeared in print for the first time in the 1600 edition of Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the scene Bottom says:

 “I see their knavery: this is to make an ass of me; to fright me, if they could.”

Scholars have found no earlier written examples of the exact combination, so this quarto from London marks the phrase’s official debut in English literature.

Country of Origin

England is where the idiom first surfaced. Shakespeare wrote and performed his plays in London during the Elizabethan era, and the printed text soon spread from there. The expression grew up in the lively world of English theater and everyday speech rather than arriving from another language or distant land.

Spread and Everyday Use

Once Shakespeare’s audience laughed at Bottom‘s donkey head and his bewildered complaint, the phrase slipped into wider conversation. By the 1800s writers were using “make an ass of yourself” in novels and letters to describe any clumsy or embarrassing mistake. The idea stayed simple: act foolishly and you turn yourself into the butt of the joke. Over time it lost the need for actual magic or donkeys and became a handy way to warn against looking silly.

A Popular Modern Twist

In the middle of the twentieth century a playful spelling joke appeared, especially in American English:

“When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me.”

The pun splits the word “assume” into “ass,” “u,” and “me,” turning a serious warning about jumping to conclusions into a light-hearted reminder. Though it feels like an old proverb, the saying is actually quite recent and unrelated to Shakespeare’s original line.

What makes the idiom fun is its double life. Shakespeare gave us both a literal donkey head on stage and a vivid picture of human embarrassment. The scene even echoes an ancient Roman tale in which a man is magically changed into a donkey, showing how old stories keep feeding new expressions. Today the phrase still pops up in conversations, reminding us gently that none of us wants to be the one left looking like a fool.

Variants

• make an ass of oneself
• make an ass of yourself
• make an ass out of someone
• play the ass
• look like an ass

Animal, Behavior, Fool, Stupid

Last update: May 7, 2026 8:52 AM