bad blood

See synonyms for bad blood on Thesaurus.com

noun

unfriendly or hostile relations; enmity; hostility; animosity: When the territory was being settled there was bad blood between the farmers and the ranchers.

Origin of bad blood

First recorded in 1815–25

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bad blood in a sentence

Why do you think everyone loves to seize on any hint of discord or bad blood between you guys?
'Saved by the Bell' Star Dustin Diamond Doesn't Want to Be a Jerk Anymore | Kevin Fallon | August 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
King reminisced about his convention and was astounded at how little bad-blood lingered.
The Bizarro World Of Iowa’s GOP Convention | Ben Jacobs | June 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The result created quite a bit of “animosity and bad blood.”
How Eric Cantor Sabotaged Himself | Ben Jacobs, Tim Mak | June 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
No pasty-faced legal adventurer is going to cause bad blood between the Warners and the Marxes.
Harvey Weinstein’s Battle With Warner Bros. Over ‘The Butler’: There's History | Marlow Stern | July 12, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
There has been bad blood between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma for many years.
Why Does Aung San Suu Kyi Not Speak Up? | Peter Popham | July 1, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

There had been bad blood between the captain and the mate, and Fox did not wish to go.
South American Fights and Fighters | Cyrus Townsend Brady
They sent threatening letters to Branson, and cut timber on Dow's claim; and this made bad blood.
Personal Recollections of Pardee Butler | Pardee Butler
Yet now whole trains would strive, often with bad blood, for the mastery of the trail, one attempting to pass the other.
Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail | Ezra Meeker
They decided to write off the past as fair fight and no bad blood, and start over again.
Space Viking | Henry Beam Piper
There is bad blood between Avalon boatmen and these foreign market fishermen.
Tales of Fishes | Zane Grey

British Dictionary definitions for bad blood

bad blood

noun

a feeling of intense hatred or hostility; enmity

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with bad blood

bad blood

Anger or hostility between persons or groups, as in There's been bad blood between the two families for years. This term is based on the old association with blood and emotion, particularly anger. Versions such as ill blood preceded it; Charles Lamb was among the first to use the idiom in its current form in an 1823 essay.

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