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
Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2025
The hit Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie featured not one but two badass grandmas played by screen legends Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Alex gets to show a lot more of her badass strength this season that Beth has an incredible amount of, so that was exciting.
—Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2025
Rest assured, Dedra is still a total badass on a mission, and Syril is willing to go to (almost) any lengths to advance the Imperial cause.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 14 Apr. 2025
At first, Bacon’s macho lead role seems like a run-of-the-mill badass: All one-liners, muscles and cool-guy poses.
—William Earl, Variety, 3 Apr. 2025
Please help show my baby that other badass women are out there!
—Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2025
In both films, Statham’s a normal dude with a badass past, some atrocity happens in his general vicinity, and oh no time to break out the Uzis.
—Rebecca Pahle, Vulture, 28 Mar. 2025
The same could be said of Fishburne’s character, whose allegiance is more fun to track than his whereabouts, and of Jon Bernthal’s two-scene performance as a badass field agent known as The Bear (lol), who exists to personify the kind of spy movie we’re used to seeing.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 8 Apr. 2025
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Noun
But Thandiwe Newton is so memorable as Val in Solo because her aviator-style coat with its white fur lining is such a perfect fit and so effectively establishes her as a capable badass who just happens to be serving face.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2025
The hit Netflix comedy Grace and Frankie featured not one but two badass grandmas played by screen legends Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 10 Apr. 2025
Alex gets to show a lot more of her badass strength this season that Beth has an incredible amount of, so that was exciting.
—Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2025
Rest assured, Dedra is still a total badass on a mission, and Syril is willing to go to (almost) any lengths to advance the Imperial cause.
—Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 14 Apr. 2025
At first, Bacon’s macho lead role seems like a run-of-the-mill badass: All one-liners, muscles and cool-guy poses.
—William Earl, Variety, 3 Apr. 2025
Please help show my baby that other badass women are out there!
—Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 30 Mar. 2025
In both films, Statham’s a normal dude with a badass past, some atrocity happens in his general vicinity, and oh no time to break out the Uzis.
—Rebecca Pahle, Vulture, 28 Mar. 2025
The same could be said of Fishburne’s character, whose allegiance is more fun to track than his whereabouts, and of Jon Bernthal’s two-scene performance as a badass field agent known as The Bear (lol), who exists to personify the kind of spy movie we’re used to seeing.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 8 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Badass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/badass. Accessed 5 May. 2025.
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