half-assed

half-assed

See also: halfassed

English

Alternative forms

• (Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, UK) half-arsed

Etymology

Probably a humorous mispronunciation of haphazard.[1]

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhæfæst/

Adjective

half-assed (comparative more half-assed, superlative most half-assed)

1. Poorly or incompetently done.
2. desultory

Translations

poorly or incompetently done

Finnish: juosten kustu French: bâclé (fr), ni fait ni à faire (fr), à l'arrache (fr) Portuguese: meia boca (pt) Spanish: cutre (es)

Verb

half-assed

1. simple past tense and past participle of half-ass

See also

• half-ass
• half ass
• half-baked
• half-cocked
• half-measure

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “half-assed”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2023), “half-assed adj.”, in Green's Dictionary of Slang
• Eric Partridge (2005), “half-assed”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 1 (A–I), London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 949.