a cattle thief, desperado, or hired gunman of the old West
badman in American English
(ˈbædˌmæn)
nounWord forms: plural-men
a bandit, outlaw, desperado, etc., esp. in the early history of the western U.S.
Word origin
[1850–55, Amer.; bad1 + man]This word is first recorded in the period 1850–55. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: boneyard, cloakroom, ethos, muggins, runoff