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
EW.com, 25 July 2025
The 44-year-old Texan has worn badass on his sleeve from the get-go, cutting the coolest figure in country music for the better part of a decade in his brash voice, hard-living lyrics, and modern long-haired outlaw.
—Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 25 July 2025
Nobody was more badass to crank up on our speakers than the one and only prince of darkness - Ozzy Osborne!
—Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 July 2025
That line provided a nice callback to one of Erica’s signature moments while also underscoring just how badass the feat of piloting that Gorn ship was (and perhaps a hint of what it’s taken out of her).
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 17 July 2025
Philomena star Sophie Kennedy Clarke leads as the Lady of the Lake—a magical badass with anger issues after King Arthur made an unwanted pass and then ran off with her sword.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 16 July 2025
Okay, maybe the bacon thing is a bit hyperbolic, but the rest of the argument still stands: Jewish clergymen don’t fit into the traditional badass action hero archetype.
—Josh Weiss, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025
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
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Noun
Will Twisted Metal viewers ever learn the real name of Quiet, the badass car thief played by Stephanie Beatriz?
—EW.com, 25 July 2025
The 44-year-old Texan has worn badass on his sleeve from the get-go, cutting the coolest figure in country music for the better part of a decade in his brash voice, hard-living lyrics, and modern long-haired outlaw.
—Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 25 July 2025
Nobody was more badass to crank up on our speakers than the one and only prince of darkness - Ozzy Osborne!
—Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 July 2025
That line provided a nice callback to one of Erica’s signature moments while also underscoring just how badass the feat of piloting that Gorn ship was (and perhaps a hint of what it’s taken out of her).
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 17 July 2025
Philomena star Sophie Kennedy Clarke leads as the Lady of the Lake—a magical badass with anger issues after King Arthur made an unwanted pass and then ran off with her sword.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 16 July 2025
Okay, maybe the bacon thing is a bit hyperbolic, but the rest of the argument still stands: Jewish clergymen don’t fit into the traditional badass action hero archetype.
—Josh Weiss, Forbes.com, 14 July 2025
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
Cite this Entry
“Badass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/badass. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
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