1
chiefly US, informal + sometimes impolite
: ready to cause or get into trouble : mean
pretending to be a badass gunslinger—
L. L. King
L. L. King2
chiefly US, informal + sometimes impolite
: of formidable strength or skill
such a badass guitar player—N'Gai Croal
N'Gai Croal
chiefly US, informal + sometimes impolite
: a person who is badass
Examples of badass in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 11 July 2025
Clad in black leather (or vinyl?), Martin looked every inch a badass rock star — with the searing vocal chops to prove it.
—jsonline.com, 5 July 2025
As badass mercenary Zora Bennett, Johansson leads a dangerous expedition, building a rapport with Bailey's character, the super-smart paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis.
—Benjamin Vanhoose, People.com, 2 July 2025
Donovan is a badass veteran of such celebrated Nashville restaurants as Husk and City House.
—Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
That's a pretty good metaphor for Cliff Booth, who is equal parts suave and badass.
—Derek Scancarelli, EW.com, 27 June 2025
Marty Rifkin is a badass steel guitarist, one of the absolute best in the country.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2025
That would be Daryl Dixon, following the adventures of the badass biker overseas, recently adding his BFF Carol back into the mix.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025
There wasn’t all that much to John in his first movie, either, but Reeves found something wry in his character’s reluctant un-retirement from life in the suburbs and return to being a notorious badass, while de Armas just defaults toward the dour.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 4 June 2025
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Noun
Instead, Ballard is all about establishing its title character as a badass workaholic who refuses to bend to the department’s sexism and has faith in her teammates on the Cold Case Unit to give all their effort to their cause.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 11 July 2025
Clad in black leather (or vinyl?), Martin looked every inch a badass rock star — with the searing vocal chops to prove it.
—jsonline.com, 5 July 2025
As badass mercenary Zora Bennett, Johansson leads a dangerous expedition, building a rapport with Bailey's character, the super-smart paleontologist Dr. Henry Loomis.
—Benjamin Vanhoose, People.com, 2 July 2025
Donovan is a badass veteran of such celebrated Nashville restaurants as Husk and City House.
—Keith Pandolfi, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
That's a pretty good metaphor for Cliff Booth, who is equal parts suave and badass.
—Derek Scancarelli, EW.com, 27 June 2025
Marty Rifkin is a badass steel guitarist, one of the absolute best in the country.
—Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 19 June 2025
That would be Daryl Dixon, following the adventures of the badass biker overseas, recently adding his BFF Carol back into the mix.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025
There wasn’t all that much to John in his first movie, either, but Reeves found something wry in his character’s reluctant un-retirement from life in the suburbs and return to being a notorious badass, while de Armas just defaults toward the dour.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 4 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Badass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/badass. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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