bad
Part of speech: adj
adv
noun
intj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: communications
economics
journalism
literature
media
publishing
sciences
writing
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”). False cognate of Persian بد (bad).
Inflected forms:
form: worse
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: badder
pos: adj
tags: comparative
nonstandard
form: more bad
pos: adj
tags: comparative
nonstandard
form: worst
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: baddest
pos: adj
tags: nonstandard
superlative
form: most bad
pos: adj
tags: nonstandard
superlative
form: worse
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: worst
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: bads
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Of low quality.
pos: adj
examples: That movie was really bad!
gloss: Inaccurate; incorrect
pos: adj
examples: A bad guess.
This sentence has bad grammar!
He speaks bad German!
gloss: Unfavorable; negative; not good.
pos: adj
examples: Hiring practice is very bad in this company.
The weather looks pretty bad right now.
You have very bad grades.
He is in a bad mood.
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.
gloss: Not suitable or fitting.
pos: adj
examples: Do you think it is a bad idea to confront him directly?
gloss: Not appropriate, of manners etc.
pos: adj
examples: It is bad manners to talk with your mouth full.
“[…] 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. […]”
gloss: Harmful, especially unhealthy; liable to cause health problems.
pos: adj
examples: Lard is bad for you. Smoking is bad for you, too. Grapes are bad for dogs but not for humans.
gloss: Sickly, unhealthy, unwell.
pos: adj
examples: Joe's in a bad way; he can't even get out of bed.
I went to the hospital to see how my grandfather was doing. Unfortunately, he's in a bad state.
I've had a bad back since the accident.
gloss: The injured or weak one of a pair of body parts, where the other one is healthy.
pos: adj
examples: I accidentally put my weight on my bad leg and fell over.
gloss: Not behaving; behaving badly; misbehaving; mischievous or disobedient.
pos: adj
tags: childish
often
examples: Stop being bad, or you will get a spanking!
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.
gloss: Tricky; stressful; unpleasant.
pos: adj
examples: Divorce is usually a bad experience for everybody involved.
gloss: Evil; wicked.
pos: adj
tags: childish
sometimes
examples: Be careful. There are bad people in the world.
gloss: Faulty; not functional.
pos: adj
examples: I had a bad headlight.
gloss: Spoiled, rotten, overripe.
pos: adj
examples: These apples have gone bad.
gloss: Malodorous; foul.
pos: adj
examples: Bad breath is not pleasant for anyone.
gloss: False; counterfeit; illegitimate.
pos: adj
examples: They were caught trying to pass bad coinage.
gloss: Unskilled; of limited ability; not good.
pos: adj
examples: I'm pretty bad at speaking French.
He's a bad gardener; everything he tries to grow ends up dying.
gloss: Of poor physical appearance.
pos: adj
examples: I look really bad whenever I get less than seven hours of sleep.
I don't look bad in this dress, do I?
I have such bad skin!
gloss: Severe, urgent.
pos: adj
examples: He is in bad need of a haircut.
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.
gloss: Regretful, guilty, or ashamed.
pos: adj
examples: I feel so bad for betraying him!
gloss: Vulgar, obscene, or blasphemous.
pos: adj
examples: Don't you dare speak to me with that bad language!
gloss: Not worth it.
pos: adj
examples: The expensive purse was a bad buy.
gloss: Badly; poorly.
pos: adv
tags: colloquial
slang
examples: I didn't do too bad in the last exam.
He is quite bad off now that both his parents lost their jobs.
The sacked quarterback was hurting bad. His back ached so bad that he had to lie down.
gloss: Badly; severely, extremely, passionately, eagerly.
pos: adv
tags: emphatic
intensifier
slang
examples: Please come back, baby. I miss you so bad!
I want you / I want you so bad, it's driving me mad
gloss: Something that is bad; a harm or evil.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: We idealize God as supergoodness in order to protect against a bad that we cannot unite with ourselves.
gloss: Error; mistake.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: "My bad, My bad!” Juwan yelled, scowling
“Chico, you're late again.” I turned around and stared him in his beady eyes. “I missed my bus. My bad, Donald.” “Your bad? Your bad? What kind of English is that?
Teresa broke out in laughter. “Dang, I sound like I'm talking to my man.” “I tried your cell phone, but you didn't answer.” “I left it at home, Friday. My bad.” “Yeah, your bad.” I laughed. “Really, I'm sorry. It won't happen again.
gloss: An item (or kind of item) of merchandise with negative value; an unwanted good.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: Imports are an economic good but exports an economic bad. Exports must be produced but are enjoyed by foreign consumers.
An economic bad is anything that you would pay to get rid of. It is not so hard to think of examples of bads: pollution, garbage, and disease fit the description.
gloss: Used to scold a misbehaving child or pet.
pos: intj
tags: slang
examples: Bad! You know you're not allowed in the kitchen after dinner.
Synonyms: abandoned
abominable
base
corrupt
deficient
detestable
disgusting
inferior
lousy
off
poor
punk
substandard
unacceptable
ungodly
unsatisfactory
vicious
wanting
wretched
wrong
abysmal
atrocious
awful
bad
chronic
coarse
corny
crap
crapalicious
crappy
crummy
deityforsaken
dire
disagreeable
dismal
dogshit
dreadful
fifth-rate
foul
fourth-rate
godawful
hellish
hideous
hopeless
horrendous
horrid
horrible
horrific
inadequate
incompetent
inelegant
intolerable
lackluster
loathsome
miserable
naff
negative
odious
ordinary
pathetic
peak
piss-poor
rotten
rubbish
shitawful
shitty
sixth-rate
sloppy
subpar
terrible
unfavorable
wack
Antonyms: adequate
advantageous
beneficial
benevolent
choice
competent
excellent
exceptional
first-class
first-rate
good
honest
just
premium
prime
profitable
propitious
reputable
right
sincere
sufficient
superior
true
upright
virtuous
worthy
great
positive
Related words: badness
Translations: