half-assed

See also: halfassed

English

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

Possibly a humorous mispronunciation of haphazard.

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

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

1. (slang) Poorly or incompetently done; desultory.

   Near-synonym: halfhearted

   a half-assed attempt at [X]

Translations

poorly or incompetently done

• Finnish: juosten kustu, hutiloitu
• 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 and past participle of half-ass

See also

• half-ass
• half ass
• half-baked
• half-cocked
• half-measure
• quarter-assed

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “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.