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
-
badasses
plural
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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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Now, he has to contend with replacing the memories of the other Asa with the reality of this badass sibling and accepting that he still may never see his parents ever again.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 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
"Not because I'm lying about anything, but because I'm a badass," she added.
From BBC ● Jan. 14, 2026
“So Mapplethorpe gave these dudes a kind of noir feel, right? Well, I want to do that with dude-like things. Cray-Cray's shed seems like the most badass dude-cave at the whole school.”
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
“That’s the thing about being a Raider, they’re badasses on the field, but they’re kittens off the field.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 2022
They’re all badasses and we’re each other’s listening board.
From New York Times ● May 20, 2022
Forget the folks setting personal bests on the treadmills at Orangetheory; these women are the real badasses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2020
Who better to portray godlike aliens, aerial crime-stoppers and lethally elegant badasses than dancers?
From Washington Post ● Jan. 8, 2020
And of course, the kids—some adorable, and some badasses.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
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.
