ballsy
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ballsy
1955–60; balls (in the sense “boldness, courage, brashness”) + -y 1; cf. -sy
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.
See Examples For:
As if releasing a pro-stealing film in a very anti-theft corporate culture weren’t ballsy enough, radical filmmaker Boots Riley grabs everything from the kitchen sink and tosses it into the blender for “I Love Boosters.”
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
“One intensely sad and angry and insecure, the other a ballsy bravado performance for public consumption.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2023
All castanets and flamenco skirts, this is a big, ballsy cabaret number about love driving you crazy.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2023
I never questioned that we should be those things when I grew up, because women were very rock ’n’ roll where I came from, very forthright and very funny and ballsy and tough.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
“Jeez, I’m not exactly sure. I’m a—uh—‘boy soprano with a ballsy chest voice,’ according to my best friend.”
From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle
But I’m also richer, more powerful and ballsier than everyone else.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2016
You might expect J. Edgar to trump The Private Files with even ballsier revelations or, taking the high road, more elevated insights.
From Time ● Nov. 8, 2011
It’s something Jensen calls “the ballsiest thing I’ve ever seen a person do.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 29, 2025
You said earlier to me that people say you're ballsy because you met with El Chapo, but this is the ballsiest thing you've ever done.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2019
Yet there Ibaka was, suited up and ready to play Game 3, one of the quickest recoveries, worst misdiagnoses or ballsiest team fabrications in NBA playoff history.
From The Guardian ● May 28, 2014
“I think it's probably one of the ballsiest moves that has ever been made in the history of the hip-hop business,” says hip-hop historian Jeff Chang, author of the book Can’t Stop Won’t Stop.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2014
The result is the blackest, ballsiest political comedy since Dr. Strangelove.
From Time ● Nov. 19, 2010
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
