desperado
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of desperado
1600–10; probably pseudo-Spanish alteration of desperate (as noun, now obsolete), in same sense
Explanation
A desperado is an outlaw that you'd see in an old Western or in the Wild West. Think spurs, horses, and hip holsters— and a desperado with a cowboy hat on his head and a bandana tied around his face. You probably know the common word desperate. A hundred years ago, the word wasn’t just an adjective — it was also a noun. A desperate was someone in despair, someone in a desperate situation. And the American frontier was full of such people, people who had gone West to find gold but missed out on a big payoff. Desperado has the same meaning as the noun desperate, but with a Spanish influence.
Vocabulary lists containing desperado
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There was the Desperado roller coaster, which was the tallest, fastest coaster in the world when it opened in 1994; it sent visitors screaming 209 feet above the freeway right outside the resort.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2025
Aldean’s “Highway Desperado Tour” has had two shows in New York since it began in July 2023.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 23, 2024
The country star said he took “a couple of IVs” to recuperate and apologized for the clunky start to his Highway Desperado tour, which runs through the end of October.
From Washington Times • Jul. 17, 2023
"Desperado" helped launch the Mexican-American star's career, and she's now been in the biz for three decades.
From Fox News • Feb. 16, 2021
And I am quite confident that Johnny will be a great statesman, or a valorous soldier, or, at all events, a good citizen, after he has got over being A Young Desperado.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 122, December, 1867 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
