badass

noun

1. 1

   slangA 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 …

   A survival tactic I learned on the psych ward was how to quickly size up potential enemies or garden-variety badasses.

   You're a badass but you ain't no criminal.

2. 2

   slangA 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.

   The Rani of Jhansi […]The Rani, also known as Lakshmibai, eventually joined in, and won a few stunning battles. She perished, according to lore, while fighting the British on horseback in full armored splendor. She was only 22.

adjective

1. 1

   slangBelligerent 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.

2. 2

   slangHaving 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."

   I took another deep breath and plunged under the white caps again safe in the knowledge that these bad ass Thai boys weren't going to follow me anytime soon, out into the storm affected seas; […]

Forms

plural

badasses

comparative

more badass

superlative

most badass