bad
1 Americanadjective
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worse,
comparative
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worst
superlative
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not good in any manner or degree.
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having a wicked or evil character; morally reprehensible.
There is no such thing as a bad boy.
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of poor or inferior quality; defective; deficient.
a bad diamond;
a bad spark plug.
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inadequate or below standard; not satisfactory for use.
bad heating;
Living conditions in some areas are very bad.
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inaccurate, incorrect, or faulty.
a bad guess.
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invalid, unsound, or false.
a bad insurance claim;
bad judgment.
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causing or liable to cause sickness or ill health; injurious or harmful.
Too much sugar is bad for your teeth.
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suffering from sickness, ill health, pain, or injury; sick; ill.
He felt bad from eating the green apples.
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not healthy or in good physical condition; diseased, decayed, or physically weakened.
A bad heart kept him out of the army.
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tainted, spoiled, or rotten, especially to the point of being inedible.
The meat is bad because you left it out of the refrigerator too long.
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having a disastrous or detrimental effect, result, or tendency; unfavorable.
The drought is bad for the farmers.
His sloppy appearance made a bad impression.
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causing or characterized by discomfort, inconvenience, uneasiness, or annoyance; disagreeable; unpleasant.
I had a bad flight to Chicago.
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easily provoked to anger; irascible.
a bad temper.
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cross, irritable, or surly.
If I don't have my morning coffee, I'm in a bad mood all day.
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more uncomfortable, persistent, painful, or dangerous than usual; severe.
a bad attack of asthma.
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causing or resulting in disaster or severe damage or destruction.
a bad flood.
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regretful, contrite, dejected, or upset.
He felt bad about having to leave the children all alone.
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disobedient, naughty, or misbehaving.
If you're bad at school, you'll go to bed without supper.
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disreputable or dishonorable.
He's getting a bad name from changing jobs so often.
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displaying a lack of skill, talent, proficiency, or judgment.
a bad painting;
Bad drivers cause most of the accidents.
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causing distress; unfortunate or unfavorable.
I'm afraid I have bad news for you.
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not suitable or appropriate; disadvantageous or dangerous.
It was a bad day for fishing.
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inclement; considered too stormy, hot, cold, etc..
We had a bad winter with a lot of snow.
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disagreeable or offensive to the senses.
a bad odor.
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exhibiting a lack of artistic sensitivity.
The room was decorated in bad taste.
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not in keeping with a standard of behavior or conduct; coarse.
bad manners.
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(of a word, speech, or writing)
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vulgar, obscene, or blasphemous.
bad language.
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not properly observing rules or customs of grammar, usage, spelling, etc.; incorrect.
He speaks bad English.
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unattractive, especially because of a lack of pleasing proportions.
She has a bad figure.
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(of the complexion) marred by defects; pockmarked or pimply; blemished.
bad skin.
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not profitable or worth the price paid.
The land was a bad buy.
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Commerce. deemed uncollectible or irrecoverable and treated as a loss.
a bad debt.
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ill-spent; wasted.
Don't throw good money after bad money.
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counterfeit; not genuine.
There was a bad ten-dollar bill in with the change.
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having the character of a villain; villainous.
In the movies the good guys always beat the bad guys.
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Sports. failing to land within the in-bounds limits of a court or section of a court; missing the mark; not well aimed.
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Slang. outstandingly excellent; first-rate.
He's a bad man on drums, and the fans love him.
noun
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that which is bad.
You have to take the bad with the good.
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a bad condition, character, or quality.
His health seemed to go from bad to worse.
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(used with a plural verb) Usually the bad evil persons collectively.
The bad are always stirring up trouble.
adverb
idioms
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in a bad way, in severe trouble or distress.
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bad off, in poor or distressed condition or circumstances; destitute: Also badly off.
His family has been pretty bad off since he lost his job.
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go to the bad, to deteriorate physically or morally; go to ruin.
She wept at seeing her son go to the bad.
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too bad, unfortunate or disappointing.
It's too bad that he didn't go to college.
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to the bad, in arrears.
He's $100 to the bad on his debt.
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my bad, my fault! my mistake!
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in bad,
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in trouble or distress.
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in disfavor.
He's in bad with his father-in-law.
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not bad, Also not so bad, not too bad.
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tolerably good; not without merit.
The dinner wasn't bad, but I've had better.
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not difficult.
Once you know geometry, trigonometry isn't bad.
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verb
adjective
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not good; of poor quality; inadequate; inferior
bad workmanship
bad soil
bad light for reading
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(often foll by at) lacking skill or talent; incompetent
a bad painter
bad at sports
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(often foll by for) harmful
bad air
smoking is bad for you
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immoral; evil
a bad life
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naughty; mischievous; disobedient
a bad child
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rotten; decayed; spoiled
a bad egg
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severe; intense
a bad headache
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incorrect; wrong; faulty
bad pronunciation
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ill or in pain (esp in the phrase feel bad )
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regretful, sorry, or upset (esp in the phrase feel bad about )
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unfavourable; distressing
bad news
a bad business
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offensive; unpleasant; disagreeable
bad language
bad temper
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not valid or sound; void
a bad cheque
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not recoverable
a bad debt
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slang good; excellent
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to deteriorate even more
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to putrefy; spoil
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informal
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seriously ill, through sickness or injury
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in trouble of any kind
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See book
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to manage as well as possible in unfavourable circumstances
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informal passable; fair; fairly good
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informal very good
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informal (often used dismissively) regrettable
noun
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unfortunate or unpleasant events collectively (often in the phrase take the bad with the good )
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an immoral or degenerate state (often in the phrase go to the bad )
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the debit side of an account
£200 to the bad
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informal my fault or mistake
adverb
verb
Usage
The adjective bad meaning “unpleasant, unattractive, unfavorable, spoiled, etc.,” is the usual form to follow such copulative verbs as sound, smell, look, and taste: After the rainstorm the water tasted bad. The coach says the locker room smells bad. After the copulative verb feel, the adjective badly in reference to physical or emotional states is also used and is standard, although bad is more common in formal writing: I feel bad from overeating. She felt badly about her friend's misfortune. When the adverbial use is required, badly is standard with all verbs: She reacted badly to the criticism. Bad as an adverb appears mainly in informal contexts: I didn't do too bad on the tests. He wants money so bad it hurts. See also badly, good.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of bad
First recorded in 1200–1250; Middle English badde, bad; origin uncertain; perhaps akin to Old English bæddel “hermaphrodite,” bædling “womanish man”
Explanation
When something is not good, it's bad. A bad dog goes to the bathroom in the house, and bad milk has gone sour. Bad has slightly different meanings depending on what it's describing, but the overall idea is the same: not good. If you get a bad connection on the telephone, there's something wrong with the line or phone. If someone gives you a bad check, there's no money to back up the check. If you do a bad job on a test, you got a C if you're lucky. In movies, a villain is a bad guy. Also, when someone does something wrong, they might say "My bad!"
Vocabulary lists containing bad
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.
See Examples For:
"I feel bad in a way now that I felt that way towards mum," he said.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
That transition is dragging on margins and “will leave a bit of a bad taste in the mouth for a while,” the analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
“There’s a personal incentive in intervention work to make amends for bad things you’ve done, give back, but there’s also the desire to not ever get arrested or go to jail or prison again.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
“That doesn’t automatically make it a bad recommendation, but it’s a potential conflict of interest worth investigating.”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
The congregation pondered, and I had a bad feeling I knew who.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Seasonal weather conditions and the burning of crop residue contribute to deteriorating air quality, while firecrackers set off during Diwali can make the situation worse.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
The study failed to meet its predetermined statistical requirement for demonstrating that the calcium scan approach was not meaningfully worse than conventional risk assessment.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
Even worse, that anxiety was associated with lower occupational prestige and ultimately lower income three years later.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
“Nobody knows whether this selloff is going to get worse before it gets better,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at Jones Trading.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
But I’m scared I’d make it even worse.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
They are one of the worst rebounding teams in the league, ranking 29th despite outrebounding the Trail Blazers by three.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2026
Some 70,000 members of the security forces were deployed Saturday, ready to move in quickly after mass protests on October 17 degenerated into the worst riots seen in France in years.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2026
The 28 October accident on the Madrid-Seville high-speed line was one of the worst railway disasters in Europe this century.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
“It was like, the worst time,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
It was time to collect on my worst bargain ever.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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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.
