definitions

bad news

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bad news ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Informal.

an annoying, disturbing, unwelcome thing or person; nuisance; troublemaker.

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RELATED WORDS

bind, bother, concern, danger, difficulty, dilemma, disappointment, distress, grief, headache, hindrance, inconvenience, mess, misfortune, nuisance, pain, predicament, problem, struggle, torment

Nearby words

bad lands, bad luck, bad man, bad mouth, bad name, bad news, bad news travels fast, bad off, bad paper, bad place, the, bad rap
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for bad news

bad news

noun

slang someone or something regarded as undesirablehe's bad news around here
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

Idioms and Phrases with bad news

bad news

1

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]

2

The amount charged for something, as in Waiter, bring our check—I want to see the bad news. [Slang; 1920s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.