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desperado

/ˈdɛspəˌrɑdoʊ/
/despəˈrɑdəʊ/
IPA guide

Other forms: desperadoes; desperados

A desperado is an outlaw that you'd see in an old Western or in the Wild West. Think spurs, horses, and hip holsters— and a desperado with a cowboy hat on his head and a bandana tied around his face.

You probably know the common word desperate. A hundred years ago, the word wasn’t just an adjective — it was also a noun. A desperate was someone in despair, someone in a desperate situation. And the American frontier was full of such people, people who had gone West to find gold but missed out on a big payoff. Desperado has the same meaning as the noun desperate, but with a Spanish influence.

Definitions of desperado
  1. noun
    a bold outlaw (especially on the American frontier)
    synonyms: desperate criminal
    see moresee less
    type of:
    criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw
    someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime
Pronunciation
US
/ˈdɛspəˌrɑdoʊ/
UK
/despəˈrɑdəʊ/
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