What does "badman" mean?

A violence-prone man who has had run-ins with the law; especially one from the Old West days of U.S. history.

What is a synonym for "badman"?

Common synonyms include: bandit, desperado, outlaw.

name, noun

name, noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A violence-prone man who has had run-ins with the law; especially one from the Old West days of U.S. history. US, historical
"Billy the Kid was a badman."
2
A gangster. Jamaica

Proper Noun

Etymology 1

From bad + man.

Etymology 2

English occupational surname for the servant of someone called Badd or Batt, but possibly, in some cases, a nickname for a reprobate, from bad + man.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.