A formal English word or phrase for "badass?" [duplicate]

Badass and BAMF are both modern words with approximately the same meaning: "Someone who is awesome to an extreme level, thereby leveraging unquestionable authority." Is there another noun or title that would convey the same level of awe, admiration and toughness that calling someone a badass does, without the vulgarity?

Thanks for any help. :)

Solution 1:

The slang term "badass", like many vulgar terms, can have a broad range of meanings, which makes it difficult to find a synonym without a clear context. As such, I can only suggest vague expressions to approximate its effect.

• to be reckoned with
• not to be underestimated/taken lightly/trifled with

Examples

Here are some examples of how you would substitute these.

That man's got such a badass beard!

becomes:

That man has a beard to be reckoned with!

And:

My boss is such a badass.

becomes:

My boss is not to be trifled with.

Solution 2:

"Master", "doyenne", "savant", "wizard", "a ??? of the highest caliber"...

Specific contexts have their own words, such as in music, you could use "virtuoso".