Green’s Dictionary of Slang

made adj.

1. (UK Und.) stolen [make v.].

[UK]B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Made c. Stolen.
[UK]New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
[UK]Pope Mother Gin 25: I’ll pour new nectar of Made-here-a made (Made is another word for stolen).
[UK]Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
[UK]Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
[UK]H.T. Potter New Dict. Cant (1795).
[UK]G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
[UK]Lex. Balatronicum.
[UK]Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
[UK]G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
[UK]Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
[US]Matsell Vocabulum 53: made Stolen. ‘The copper asked me where I made the benjamin. I told him I didn’t make it, but got it on the square,’ the officer asked me where I stole the coat, and I told him that I did not steal it, but got it honestly.

2. (US) recognized, identified [make v. (4)].

[US]Howsley Argot: Dict. of Und. Sl.
[US]Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
[US]R. Prather Always Leave ’Em Dying 23: I almost had him made, but then I became aware of Trammel sputtering beside me. ‘... so get out.’.
[US]C. Himes Blind Man with a Pistol (1971) 74: Sure, he knew Doctor Mubuta was a con man, all the hepcats in Harlem had him made.
[US]G.V. Higgins Patriot Game (1985) 66: I got made within forty minutes.
[US]C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 100: Get paid and get laid but don’t get made, that was the creed.
[US]G. Pelecanos Shame the Devil 223: We got made [...] Why do you suppose that is.
[US]G. Pelecanos (con. 1972) What It Was 198: They were leaving, which meant that they knew they’d been made.

3. (US black) usu. of girls or women, describing someone who has had their hair straightened [make v. (8)].

[US]Z.N. Hurston ‘Story in Harlem Sl.’ in Novels and Stories (1995) 1009: Made hair: hair that has been straightened.

4. (orig. US Und.) initiated as a member of the US Mafia [make v. (9)].

[US]Goldin et al. DAUL 132/1: Made. 1. Lifted out of mediocrity to a position of wealth or influence in the underworld.
[US]J. Mills Panic in Needle Park (1971) 22: Everybody knew that Hank had once been on the verge of being ‘made’ by the Mafia—taken on by them as a permanent member.
[US]E. Torres After Hours 67: Guys who ain’t even made.
[US]N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 181: If you wanted to be a wiseguy, you had to be made.
[US]E. Bunker Mr Blue 231: The others were Italian and liked to gamble, so were presumed to be affiliated with East Coast or Middle Western mobsters. One or two might be ‘made’ men.
[US]C. Stella Shakedown 4: Just got made the day they bust him.
[US]D. Winslow Winter of Frankie Machine (2007) 121: Frank wasn’t into the whole ‘made guy’ thing. He really didn’t give a damn about all that old Sicilian stuff.
[US]T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] ‘I’m gonna get made for killing you’.

5. (US) cheated, tricked [make v. (1e)].

[US]J. Jones From Here to Eternity (1998) 165: You’re liable to end up gettin made. Theres somethin about Bloom I dont like.

6. (US) completed successfully.

[US](con. early 1950s) J. Ellroy L.A. Confidential 171: A made case would ticket him back to Narco.

7. (drugs) satisfactorily supplied/intoxicated with drugs, usu. heroin.

[US]Babs Gonzales ‘The Be-Bop Santa Claus’ 🎵 His eyeballs was hid by some coal-black shades / And old Pops knew that this cat was made.
[US]E. De Roo Go, Man, Go! 35: Couldn’t you drag your feet. We almost had it made.
[US]C. Cooper Jr Scene (1996) 46: ‘You look like you’re made,’ he said jealously.

In compounds

made man (n.) (also made guy)

1. (US Und.) a formally initiated member of the US Mafia, thus unmade, uninitiated.

[US]E. Torres Carlito’s Way 19: His uncle was a made guy.
[US]R. Campbell Alice in La-La Land (1999) 160: Whatever she was doing in partners with the Mafia asshole, who was not even a made man, she calls on him to do a job.
[US]Pileggi & Scorsese Goodfellas [film script] 54: Before you could touch a made guy, you had to have a good reason.
[US]S. Frank Get Shorty [film script] chili: Well, you had it down cold. Watching you in the movie, if I didn’t know better I’d have to believe you were a made guy and not acting.
[UK]Guardian Guide 26 June–2 July 20: A gangster quiz to find out if you’ve got what it takes to be a ‘made man’.
[US]C. Stella Eddie’s World 88: You should be a made guy. Don’t forget that.
[US]H. Hill A Good Fella’s Guide To N.Y. 163: To earn a ‘button’ was to become a made man, an untouchable.
[US](con. 1973) C. Stella Johnny Porno 39: Nick had joined Vento’s ranks with the hope of becoming a made man himself one day.
[US]D. Winslow The Force [ebook] There’s Lou sitting out there [...] with one of his soldiers, an unmade wannabe.

2. (US black) one who has a secure (i.e. city of state) job.

[US]G. Hayward Corruption Officer [ebk] cap. 3: I had yet to tell him about my made man status. Yes, made man. In the ghetto everybody knows that if you land a city or state job you hold on to that particular a job, you do your 20 years and retire young, depending on your age when you start.