badass
Americanadjective
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(of a person) difficult to deal with; mean-tempered and sometimes violent.
-
so tough, assertive, or independent as to be somewhat intimidating.
He is one badass sheriff who stops at nothing to solve a mystery.
-
awesome or impressive; worthy of admiration: a bluegrass band with a badass fiddler.
badass American sports cars;
a bluegrass band with a badass fiddler.
noun
-
a mean-tempered troublemaker.
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a somewhat intimidating person who is tough, assertive, or independent.
She’s a corporate badass who knows her worth.
noun
adjective
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tough or aggressive
a badass rock band
-
excellent
a real badass watch
Etymology
Origin of badass
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.
In short, Jarrell-Searcy was a bit of a badass.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
It’s 1981, and Quatro, a pint-sized, leather-clad, four-string-plucking badass, may be the first to feature lipstick in a music video.
From Salon • Feb. 19, 2026
Just for a moment, I wanted to join the badass gang that made subversive movies.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026
“So I think going into this event, we’ll see a lot of incredible riding, we’ll see a lot of new faces, new names and some badass runs.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026
So, what I'm trying to say is that there's an extremely badass carnival in the parking lot of Perimeter Mall today, and it's apparently open until nine.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
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.
