ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Desperado

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /dɛspəˈɹɑːdəʊ/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Desperado is a noun meaning A bold outlaw, especially one from southern portions of the Wild West.

Meaning

A bold outlaw, especially one from southern portions of the Wild West.

More Meanings

  1. (colloquial) A person in desperate circumstances or who is at the point of desperation, such as a down-and-outer, an addict, etc.
  2. (colloquial) A person who is desperately in love or is desperate for a romantic or sexual relationship.
  3. (chess) A piece that seems determined to give itself up, typically to bring about stalemate or perpetual check.

Example Sentences

Surely this was the face of a desperado.
The shortstops and desperados were not permitted to play in this marker crap game.
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.

Word Forms

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include bandolero, outlaw, cowboy, renegade, desperate, bandit.

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Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.