Fromdumb +ass. It is likely that ¹ass (= donkey), not ²ass (= buttocks), was the original sense within thiscompound noun (solid compound oropen compound), but neither sense is precluded, and many people today may uncritically parse the term in the latter way, even if it ismisapprehensive. Apparent analogy with forms such ashard-ass andbig-ass wouldnaturally lend support to the second parsing. A similar synergy can be seen in the fact that the termsbuttload andassload originated as literally meaning a cartload and the load transportable by a single donkey (respectively), but probably most English speakers today would assume that their derivation involves the buttocks.
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dumbass (pluraldumbasses)
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dumbass (comparativemoredumbassordumberass,superlativemostdumbassordumbestass)