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.
But plague has, for a very long time, been shorthand for various kinds of bad news.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
A weak U.S. jobs report did what bad news hadn’t done in a while: It made U.S. debt look like a safe haven again — albeit briefly.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
Wall Street got the bit of bad news it was hoping for.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
He said USC should tell its community members about “good news, bad news, financial news, just clarity about exactly where we stand.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2026
The other bad news is, no one has taken food or water to the attic, and we haven’t fed the chickens.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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.
