Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US) very bad, second-rate.

1945		in T. Shibutani Derelicts of Company K (1978) 374: Jesus Christ! We’re at the shit-ass end of nowhere.
1951		C. & E. Jones Face of War 71: Ah, shitass.
1967		J. Rechy Numbers (1968) 126: If it hadn’t been for that shitass car in Lafayette Park last night.
1968		G. Cuomo Among Thieves 442: This shit-assed bunch of cons kept bitching about sending food in.
1971		F.J. Hardy Outcasts of Foolgarah (1975) 123: Why this shitaceous Sabbath journey?
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 65: I hereby order the D.A. committed for ninety days [...] for presenting such a shit-ass case.
1979		S. King Dead Zone (1980) 35: Sarah heard the roustabout who had lost his bet grumble [...] ‘Shitass luck’.
1980		J.L. Gwaltney Drylongso 128: For instance, you take this shit-assed travel number [...] what kind of help is that?
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 119: A shit-ass town like this having a championship course.
1986		L. Heinemann Paco’s Story (1987) 10: You stare at a couple of hundred metres of shitty-ass marsh.
1994		I. Welsh ‘Eurotrash’ in Acid House 13: Did it really matter what indistinct shite-arsed towns [...] I was dragged through.
2001		N. Barlay Hooky Gear 180: Its the sort of party wha happen every Sat night in every shitarse burb with whoevers left standin in the local at chuck-out.
2007		C. Goffard Snitch Jacket 69: Shit-ass thief!
2021		S.A. Crosby Razorblade Tears 46: ‘I live in a shitty-ass trailer in an even shittier trailer park’.
2021		T. Pluck Boy from County Hell 85: Her shit-ass family.

2. (US) annoyed.

1967

(con. 1950s) McAleer & Dickson Unit Pride (1981) 69: I could see he was shit-ass, but I didn’t care.

3. used as adv., extremely, with implications of fear (and thus soiled underwear).

1967

R. Conot Rivers of Blood 58: ‘You don’t get out of the way, I’ll call the police.’ ‘Man, them police can’t help you! They running shitass scared!’.