Desperado
noun, slang ·4 syllables ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A bold outlaw, especially one from southern portions of the Wild West.
"The kind of persons who excite or give signal to such revolutions — students, young men of letters […], or fierce and justly bankrupt desperadoes, acting everywhere on the discontent of the millions and blowing it into flame, — might give rise to reflections as to the character of our epoch."
- 2 a bold outlaw (especially on the American frontier) wordnet
- 3 A person in desperate circumstances or who is at the point of desperation, such as a down-and-outer, an addict, etc. colloquial
"The shortstops and desperados were not permitted to play in this marker crap game."
- 4 A person who is desperately in love or is desperate for a romantic or sexual relationship. colloquial
- 5 A piece that seems determined to give itself up, typically to bring about stalemate or perpetual check.
Example
More examples"The kind of persons who excite or give signal to such revolutions — students, young men of letters […], or fierce and justly bankrupt desperadoes, acting everywhere on the discontent of the millions and blowing it into flame, — might give rise to reflections as to the character of our epoch."
Etymology
From obsolete Spanish desperado, past participle of desperar, archaic form of desesperar (“to despair”), from Latin disperare (“to despair, to lose hope”), from prefix dis- + sperare (“to hope”). Doublet of desperate.
Related phrases
More for "desperado"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.