badass
/ˈbædæs/
"badass" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“badass” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,987 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,987
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A belligerent or mean person; a person with an unpleasantly extreme appearance, attitudes, or behavior.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | badass |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbædæs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #10,987 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “badass” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for badass is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbædæs/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,987 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for badass, with forms such as "abdass", "baadss", and "badas". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "bass", "brass", "bypass", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From bad + ass (“buttocks; one's self or person”). The correct English form is badass, spelled B-A-D-A-S-S.
Definition
- 1A belligerent or mean person; a person with an unpleasantly extreme appearance, attitudes, or behavior.
- 2A person considered impressive due to courage, skill, daring, audacity, and/or toughness.
Etymology
From bad + ass (“buttocks; one's self or person”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abdass,baadss,badas,baddass,badsas,bbadass,bdaass
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of badass - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “badass”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-D-A-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbædæs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bass” - see the side-by-side comparison. badass vs bass
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.