baller

[ baw-ler ]

noun
  1. Also ball·a [baw-luh] /ˈbɔ lə/ .Slang.

    • a successful person who has or earns a lot of money and lives a lavish, flashy, or extravagant lifestyle: I busted out my newly tailored suit and rolled in there like a baller, or at least I tried my best to.He’s a real baller now, upgrading from a bachelor pad to a penthouse.

    • someone who is proficient at playing ball, especially basketball:She'll be taking her talents, as a baller and a student, to Davidson College this fall.

  2. a tool that makes, scoops, or winds things into balls (used in combination): Using a melon baller, scoop out the inside of the apples, taking care to create a shell of even thickness. Just for kicks, they balled socks in a mechanical sock baller and shot them across the room.

adjective
  1. Also ball·a [baw-luh] /ˈbɔ lə/ .Slang. great or excellent, especially in a flashy or stylish way: I'd never been inside that club before, and the place is baller—it’s going to blow you away.

Origin of baller

1
First recorded in 1580–90, ball1 + -er1 (in general sense “ball player”); in 1825–35 for def. 2, ball1 + -er1 (in sense “tool or scoop”); in 1985–90 for def. 1b, shortening of (basket)ball + -er1; in 1990–95 for def. 3, in adjective sense “great, excellent”; perhaps from ball1 + -er1, or from ball2 + -er1, the spelling balla representing an African-American Vernacular pronunciation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024