The AI-powered English dictionary
plural desperadoes or desperados
A bold outlaw, especially one from southern portions of the Wild West. quotations 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.
1850, Thomas Carlyle, “The present time”, in Latter-Day Pamphlets
Surely this was the face of a desperado.
1918, Willa Cather, My Antonia, Mirado Modern Classics, paperback edition, page 6
(colloquial) A person in desperate circumstances or who is at the point of desperation, such as a down-and-outer, an addict, etc. quotations examples
The shortstops and desperados were not permitted to play in this marker crap game.
1981, Sam Grafstein, Dice Doctor
(colloquial) A person who is desperately in love or is desperate for a romantic or sexual relationship. examples
(chess) A piece that seems determined to give itself up, typically to bring about stalemate or perpetual check. examples