bad actor
Americannoun
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a mean, ill-tempered, troublemaking, or evil person.
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a vicious animal.
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an inveterate criminal.
Etymology
Origin of bad actor
First recorded in 1940–45
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.
“To watch you be a bad actor was so hilarious and then you would you would modulate it and change it,” Giamatti continues.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
Vance’s act wasn’t just painful because he’s such a bad actor.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
“If I were a bad actor trying to design a pathogen or something to do harm, I would not use AI,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Distributors are asked to provide the metadata for each individual song, which makes it possible for a bad actor to submit music using an existing artist's name, or one with a very similar spelling.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
He had looked strangely comical, like a bad actor auditioning for a solemn part in a play.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
