bad
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /bæd/
ipa: /bæːd/
ipa: /bɛd/
ipa: /baːd/
note: æ-tensing, New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore
ipa: /bɛəd/
rhymes: -æd
homophone: bade (one pronunciation)
Forms: form: worse
form: badder
form: more bad
form: worst
form: baddest
form: most bad
Etymology: From Middle English bad, badde (“wicked, evil, depraved”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a shortening of Old English bæddel (“hermaphrodite”) (for loss of -el compare Middle English muche from Old English myċel, and Middle English wenche from Old English wenċel), or at least related to it and/or to bǣ̆dan (“to defile”), compare Old High German pad (“hermaphrodite”).
Alternatively, perhaps a loan from Old Norse into Middle English, compare Norwegian bad (“effort, trouble, fear”, neuter noun), East Danish bad (“damage, destruction, fight”, neuter noun), from the Proto-Germanic noun *badą, whence also Proto-Germanic *badōną (“to frighten”), Old Saxon undarbadōn (“to frighten”), Norwegian Nynorsk bada (“to weigh down, press”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ- (“to bend, press, push, oppress”).
Senses: examples: text: That movie was really bad!
glosses: Of low quality.
examples: text: A bad guess.
text: This sentence has bad grammar!
text: He speaks bad German!
glosses: Inaccurate; incorrect
examples: text: Hiring practice is very bad in this company.
text: The weather looks pretty bad right now.
text: You have very bad grades.
text: He is in a bad mood.
text: He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
synonyms: unfavorable
negative
glosses: Unfavorable; negative; not good.
examples: text: Do you think it is a bad idea to confront him directly?
synonyms: word: inappropriate
word: unfit
word: bad
word: discommensurate
word: improper
word: inappropriate
word: inapt
word: incommensurate
word: inept
word: inopportune
word: out of line
word: out of order
word: out of place
word: unapt
word: unfit
word: unhappy
word: unseemly
word: unsuitable
glosses: Not suitable or fitting.
examples: text: It is bad manners to talk with your mouth full.
text: “[…] if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. […]”
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
glosses: Not appropriate, of manners etc.
examples: text: Lard is bad for you. Smoking is bad for you, too. Grapes are bad for dogs but not for humans.
synonyms: word: unhealthful
word: unwholesome
word: harmful
word: damaging
word: deleterious
word: detrimental
word: hurtful
word: inimical
word: injurious
word: mischievous
word: nocent
word: nocuous
word: noxious
word: noisome
word: prejudicial
word: scathand
word: scathel
word: sullen
word: venom
glosses: Harmful, especially unhealthy; liable to cause health problems.
examples: text: Joe's in a bad way; he can't even get out of bed.
text: I went to the hospital to see how my grandfather was doing. Unfortunately, he's in a bad state.
text: I've had a bad back since the accident.
synonyms: word: ill
word: poorly
word: sickly
word: ailing
word: bad
word: crank
word: crook
word: green about the gills
word: icky
word: ill
word: indisposed
word: infirm
word: like death warmed over
word: maladive
word: mawkish
word: off one's feed
word: on the Pat and Mick
word: out of sorts
word: Pat and Mick
word: poorly
word: queer
word: sick
word: sickish
word: sickly
word: sick as a dog
word: sick as a parrot
word: under the weather
word: unhealthy
word: unwell
word: valetudinarian
word: valetudinary
qualifier: chiefly applied to a person's state of health
glosses: Sickly, unhealthy, unwell.
examples: text: I accidentally put my weight on my bad leg and fell over.
glosses: The injured or weak one of a pair of body parts, where the other one is healthy.
examples: text: Stop being bad, or you will get a spanking!
text: I can tell that new kid at our daycare is trouble […] He's picking out his favorite corner to stand in when he's bad.
ref: 2014 August 28, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):
glosses: Not behaving; behaving badly; misbehaving; mischievous or disobedient.
examples: text: Divorce is usually a bad experience for everybody involved.
synonyms: word: foul
word: loathsome
word: abhorrant
word: abhorrent
word: bad
word: disgusting
word: distasteful
word: foul
word: rancid
word: fulsome
word: grim
word: gro
word: grody
word: gross
word: grotty
word: harsh
word: loathsome
word: munted
word: nasty
word: nauseous
word: obnoxious
word: rank
word: repulsive
word: revolting
word: scabrous
word: sickening
word: strident
word: offensive
word: unpleasant
glosses: Tricky; stressful; unpleasant.
examples: text: Be careful. There are bad people in the world.
synonyms: word: vile
word: vicious
word: abandoned
word: arrant
word: bad
word: bad apple
word: bad seed
word: baleful
word: baneful
word: base
word: dark
word: deleterious
word: depraved
word: despicable
word: detrimental
word: devilish
word: diabolical
word: evil
word: flagitious
word: harmful
word: ill-intentioned
word: ill-natured
word: immoral
word: incorrigible
word: iniquitous
word: iniquous
word: injurious
word: knavish
word: malefic
word: maleficent
word: malevolent
word: malicious
word: malign
word: malignant
word: nefarious
word: niddering
word: nidering
word: niding
word: nithing
word: no-good
word: peccaminous
word: pernicious
word: reprehensible
word: reprobate
word: satanic
word: scathful
word: sinful
word: sinister
word: sordid
word: sullen
word: ungodly
word: unholy
word: vicious
word: vile
word: villainous
word: wicked
word: wrong
glosses: Evil; wicked.
examples: text: I had a bad headlight.
synonyms: word: inoperative
word: bad
word: borked
word: broken
word: broken-down
word: bung
word: busted
word: cactused
word: crocked
word: Donald Ducked
word: down
word: faulty
word: flaky
word: FUBAR
word: fucked
word: fuckered up
word: inoperative
word: janky
word: jiggered
word: kaput
word: knackered
word: malfunctioning
word: munted
word: nonfunctional
word: nonoperational
word: offline
word: off one's feed
word: on the blink
word: on the fritz
word: out of commission
word: out of gas
word: out of kilter
word: out of order
word: out of service
word: out of sorts
word: out of whack
word: screwed up
word: stuffed
word: tits up
word: toes up
word: tore up
word: unfunctional
glosses: Faulty; not functional.
examples: text: These apples have gone bad.
synonyms: word: rotten
word: bad
word: carious
word: gone bad
word: gone off
word: maggoted
word: rotten
word: spoiled
glosses: Spoiled, rotten, overripe.
raw_tags: of food
examples: text: Bad breath is not pleasant for anyone.
synonyms: word: bad
word: buckish
word: cacodorous
word: fetid
word: foul-smelling
word: funky
word: graveolent
word: malodorous
word: niffy
word: noisome
word: nonaromatic
word: nonfragrant
word: olid
word: on the nose
word: pongy
word: putredinous
word: reeking
word: reeky
word: ripe
word: smelly
word: stank
word: stenchy
word: stinking
word: stinksome
word: stinky
word: unaromatic
word: unfragrant
word: whiff
word: whiffy
glosses: Malodorous; foul.
raw_tags: of breath
examples: text: They were caught trying to pass bad coinage.
synonyms: word: fake
word: spurious
word: artificial
word: bad
word: bogus
word: bollocks
word: concocted
word: counterfeit
word: ersatz
word: fabricated
word: false
word: falsified
word: fake
word: faux
word: feigned
word: forged
word: fraudulent
word: illegitimate
word: ingenuine
word: mock
word: phoney
word: phony-baloney
word: phony
word: phony as a three-dollar bill
word: pseudo
word: put-up
word: said to be
word: sham
word: spurious
word: synthetic
word: unauthentic
word: unreal
word: trumped-up
glosses: False; counterfeit; illegitimate.
examples: text: I'm pretty bad at speaking French.
text: He's a bad gardener; everything he tries to grow ends up dying.
synonyms: word: bungling
word: inept
word: amateurish
word: backwards
word: bad
word: bungling
word: clumsy
word: ham-fisted
word: ham-handed
word: inapt
word: incapable
word: incompetent
word: inept
word: inexpert
word: maladroit
word: miserable
word: unable
word: unprofessional
word: unqualified
word: unskillful
glosses: Unskilled; of limited ability; not good.
examples: text: I look really bad whenever I get less than seven hours of sleep.
text: I don't look bad in this dress, do I?
text: I have such bad skin!
synonyms: word: repulsive
word: unsightly
word: bad
word: beat
word: butters
word: butt-ugly
word: clapped
word: coyote ugly
word: deform
word: fuckfaced
word: fugly
word: hideous
word: homely
word: like the back end of a bus
word: plug-ugly
word: repulsive
word: ugly
word: ugly as sin
word: unattractive
word: uncomely
word: unsightly
word: unpretty
glosses: Of poor physical appearance.
examples: text: He is in bad need of a haircut.
text: Oh let me tell you that it / Hurts so bad / It makes me feel so sad / You make it hurt so bad / To see you again.
ref: 1965, Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein, Bobby Hart, “Hurt So Bad”, in Hurt So Bad, performed by The Lettermen:
synonyms: word: dire
word: acute
word: bad
word: clamant
word: crying
word: dire
word: exigent
word: imperious
word: instant
word: rash
word: severe
word: pressing
word: pressive
word: urgent
qualifier: want; or pain; want; or pain
glosses: Severe, urgent.
raw_tags: of a need
examples: text: I feel so bad for betraying him!
qualifier: preceded by feel
glosses: Regretful, guilty, or ashamed.
examples: text: Don't you dare speak to me with that bad language!
topics: communications
journalism
literature
media
publishing
writing
qualifier: speech
glosses: Vulgar, obscene, or blasphemous.
raw_tags: of a word
examples: text: The expensive purse was a bad buy.
glosses: Not worth it.
Synonyms: word: abandoned
word: abominable
word: base
word: corrupt
word: deficient
word: detestable
word: disgusting
word: inferior
word: lousy
word: off
word: poor
word: punk
word: substandard
word: unacceptable
word: ungodly
word: unsatisfactory
word: vicious
word: wanting
word: wretched
word: wrong
word: abysmal
word: awful
word: chronic
word: coarse
word: crap
word: crummy
word: dire
word: disagreeable
word: dismal
word: dreadful
word: foul
word: hideous
word: hopeless
word: horrendous
word: horrid
word: horrible
word: inadequate
word: incompetent
word: inelegant
word: intolerable
word: loathsome
word: miserable
word: naff
word: negative
word: odious
word: pathetic
word: peak
word: rotten
word: rubbish
word: shitawful
word: sloppy
word: terrible
word: unfavorable
Hyponyms: word: low-quality
word: harmful
word: lamentable
word: evil
Related terms: word: badness