badass

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A belligerent or mean person

   A belligerent or mean person; a person with an unpleasantly extreme appearance, attitudes, or behavior.

   • Don’t mess with that guy, he’s a real badass.
   • There are badasses, and there are badasses. Dothan is one of the latter, from a family full of badasses. I'm not saying he isn't a decent sort. He's fully rational, not like his brother Curtis. But Christ, when the sombitch gets mad …
2. 2

   A person considered impressive due to courage, skill, daring, audacity, and/or toughness.

   • "I'm a badass." (Jack Nicholson to a New York friend, early 1973.)
   • The Oakland Raiders are one of the few teams that I have any feelings for besides the Steelers. Nowadays they're a bunch of wannabe badasses, but back in the day they were something to behold.
   • Men and women from the CIA's Directorate of Operations (DO) would return from Afghanistan and tell stories about Task Force 11, an amalgamation of Special Forces bad-asses from the various branches of the U.S. military.
3. 3

   Belligerent and troublesome.

   • Uncle Jr. was really quiet. Probably because he was a junior high school teacher and was around badass, hollerin' kids all day.
   • [There were] lots of really, really bad, badass people … I did not want to be a part of it.
   • I worked at one bar on the Upper East Side that was owned by a famous Irish badass thug everyone was scared of.
4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      Having an extreme appearance, attitude, or behavior that is considered admirable.

      • That tough guy looks badass.
      • "FAIRY WING GLITTER!!!" / *sparkle* / "It's hard to look bad-ass when using fairy powers..." *sigh*
      • "Nice coat, lady!" he said. / I sat down across from him. "Not a good moment to start with me about it," I said. / "Who's starting with you? It's badass." It took me only half a second to see that he was serious. "Completely badass."

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