half-assed

[ haf-ast, hahf- ]

adjective

, Slang: Vulgar.

1. insufficient or haphazard; not fully planned or developed.
2. incompetent; lacking sufficient ability or knowledge.

half-assed

adjective

1. incompetent; inept
2. lacking efficiency or organization

Word History and Origins

Origin of half-assed¹

First recorded in 1960–65; half + ass ² + -ed ³

Example Sentences

Snap’s Spectacles are truly horrid, like something you’d wear as part of a half-assed Andy Warhol costume on Halloween.

From Slate

“Every woman has a right to govern her own body – and no one should ever do anything half-assed.”

From Salon

And, just after Harris praised her late mother for teaching her and her sister to “never do anything half-assed,” Trump posted: “Kamala’s biography won’t lower prices at the Grocery Store, or at the Pump!”

From Los Angeles Times

“I mixed it in a half-assed way and sent it to the company.”

From Los Angeles Times

What has happened in the West Coast cities, over and over on homelessness, drugs and policing issues, is that we half-assed it.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• aimless
• arbitrary
• careless
• casual
• desultory
• disorganized
• erratic
• helter-skelter
• indiscriminate
• offhand
• random
• slapdash
• uncoordinated