bad-ass adj.
1. unpleasant.
![]() | (con. 1920s–30s) Youngblood (1956) 415: Youngblood just don’t like this bad-ass whiskey you sell. | |
![]() | (con. 1958) Been Down So Long (1972) 73: Oh bad-ass scene. Get them out of here. |
2. (also ass-bad, bad-arse, bad-assed) tough, aggressive, frightening.
![]() | Joint (1972) 75: Remember Sandy, the sullen kid [...] Wanted to be a hard-nosed badass type. | letter 28 Dec. in|
![]() | Deep Down In The Jungle 54: Now the lion came through the jungle one peaceful day, / When the signifying monkey stopped him, and that is what he started to say: / He said, ‘Mr Lion,’ he said, ‘A bad-assed motherfucker down your way.’ 79: I’m that bad-ass so-and-so they call ‘Stackolee’. | |
![]() | Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 179: There’s gonna be some badassed happenings if I don’t get invited. | |
![]() | Stand On It (1979) 249: They stage a few bad-ass, no-account races for trophies. | |
![]() | 🎵 Way down in the jungle deep, / The bad ass lion stepped on the signifyin monkey’s feet. | ‘Signifyin’ Monkey’|
![]() | What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] I was a full-on, bad arse macho man. | ‘Plague on Puffers’ in|
![]() | Grand Central Winter (1999) 67: It was better to go inside with a ‘don’t-give-a-fuck’ badass rep preceding him. | |
![]() | Guardian Rev. 15 Oct. 17: If that means pretending to be a badass rock chick, so be it. | |
![]() | Plainclothes Naked (2002) 306: What kind of person’s so ass-bad they don’t even lock their door? | |
![]() | Jake’s Long Shadow 227: It takes so many down with it [...] li’l Monty grown into a big bad-arse bastard. | |
![]() | You Got Nothing Coming 14: Greasy, matted shoulder-length hair (secured by filthy rubber bands) and five identical goatees scraggily aspiring to a bad-ass look. | |
![]() | Call of the Weird (2006) 180: Jeezy looked [...] thrillingly badass. | |
![]() | Alphaville (2011) 362: Even tough-talking, badass Animal eventually decided to cooperate. | |
![]() | The Force [ebook] The badass look helps him stay out of the physical confrontations. | |
![]() | Price You Pay 119: [T]hey care about being the Seven Demons, or about being that badass, or being able to kill whoever they like. | |
![]() | Widespread Panic 90: Harry sprung three badass beaners from the [...] drunk tank. |
3. of people, animals, objects: formidable, admirable, first-rate.
![]() | [film title] Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. | |
![]() | Jones Men 7: She was dressed all in white with a bad-ass mink round her shoulders. | |
![]() | Drylongso 232: God is the baddest ass in the firmament! He spare who he want to and He strike who he want to. | |
![]() | A2Z. | et al.|
![]() | (con. 1986) Sweet Forever 5: A bad-ass prison picture called Short Eyes. | |
![]() | Right As Rain 214: Logan had this dog, a boxer mix, called him Greco. Bad-ass dog, too [...] and I always liked the name. | |
![]() | Midnight Lightning 111: Ahmad’s crew were mostly his cousins [...] They were ‘fine,’ bad-ass football players. | |
![]() | Eve. Standard 20 Apr. 14/2: She is suddenly not only very popular but has also acquired a completely surprising badass cool. | |
![]() | Cherry 21: Madison could dance like a real bad-assed slut. | |
![]() | Pineapple Street 151: ‘I just picture you as this badass mom [...] [d]oing your job with a baby strapped to your chest’. |
In compounds
the female equivalent of a bad-ass nigger n.
![]() | Runnin’ Down Some Lines 145: The counterpart to the ‘bad-assed nigger’ is the ‘bad-assed bitch’. |