feel-bad

[ feel-bad ]

adjectiveInformal.

intended to make one feel unhappy, depressed, or dissatisfied, often to arouse one’s conscience or understanding: a feel-bad documentary about Nagasaki;feel-bad financial reports.

Origin of feel-bad

First recorded in 1980–85; feel + bad¹ on the model of feel-good

Words Nearby feel-bad

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

How to use feel-bad in a sentence

If not for meaningfulness, what other reason is there to watch a movie that makes you feel bad?
The Science of Weepies: Why We Love Crying at the Movies | Elizabeth Picciuto | June 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I tell myself not to feel bad because my life expectancy is eighty-six, which means I have nineteen more years of life.
Diane Keaton Refuses to Give In to Aging | Diane Keaton | May 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
If you don't understand that reference, don't feel bad: it's just proving our point.
Marry, Screw, Kill: Lindsay Lohan Sex List Scandal Edition | Amy Zimmerman | March 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Other species experience bad feelings, but humans are unique in their capacity to feel bad about feeling bad.
How Depression Could Save Your Life | Nick Romeo | March 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Plus when you read articles like this, you can't help but feel bad for the kid.
How Likable Is Alec Baldwin After His ‘New York Magazine’ Confessional? | Amy Zimmerman | February 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

It makes me feel bad to think that my boys fought against it (he meant the boys who attended the Sunday school).
The Boys of '61 | Charles Carleton Coffin.
Makes me feel bad to see any young creetur suffer; most of all to see a bird.
Dorothy's Travels | Evelyn Raymond
Why, then, should we feel bad if the world looks upon us as ravagers of religion and insurgents against constituted authority?
Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians | Martin Luther
And then I gives Miss Sterling the laugh proper, just to carry it off like a joke, so she wouldn't feel bad about the mistake.
Sixes and Sevens | O. Henry
When something happens which it makes me feel bad, Max, I got to swear, y'understand.
The Competitive Nephew | Montague Glass

Other Idioms and Phrases with feel-bad

feel-bad

Also, feel bad about. Experience regret, sadness, embarrassment, or a similar unpleasant emotion. For example, I feel bad about not attending the funeral, or The teacher's scolding made Bobby feel bad. [First half of 1800s]

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