bad news
Americannoun
noun
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An unwelcome thing or person, trouble. For example, That fire was bad news; we were underinsured for the damage , or No one wants Mary on the board—she's bad news . This term transfers literal bad news—the report of an unhappy recent event—to an unwanted or undesirable individual or circumstance. [ Slang ; 1920s]
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The amount charged for something, as in Waiter, bring our check—I want to see the bad news . [ Slang ; 1920s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Well the bad news is there's no cure, but it is possible to mitigate it.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
You learn your parents’ registers the way you learn weather, and this was the register of bad news from far away.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Nonetheless, they say, the summer of bad news will force Bass to reset her campaign narrative — including shoring up her support with Eastside Latinos in the wake of the Lineage fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
That’s the good news, the bad news and the in-between news.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
“It is bad news that he thinks so, Penelope. We must act quickly. For he will be searching for us, now.”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
