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• feel-bad
  feel-bad

  adjective

  intended to make one feel unhappy, depressed, or dissatisfied, often to arouse one’s conscience or understanding.
• feel bad
  feel bad

  Also, feel bad about. Experience regret, sadness, embarrassment, or a similar unpleasant emotion. For example, I feel bad about not attending the funeral, or The teacher's scolding made Bobby feel bad. [First half of 1800s]

feel-bad

American  

[feel-bad] / ˈfilˈbæd /

adjective

Informal.

1. intended to make one feel unhappy, depressed, or dissatisfied, often to arouse one’s conscience or understanding.

   a feel-bad documentary about Nagasaki;

   feel-bad financial reports.

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feel bad Idioms  

1. Also, feel bad about. Experience regret, sadness, embarrassment, or a similar unpleasant emotion. For example, I feel bad about not attending the funeral, or The teacher's scolding made Bobby feel bad. [First half of 1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of feel-bad

First recorded in 1980–85; feel ( def. ) + bad ¹ ( def. ) on the model of feel-good ( def. )

Example Sentences

I'm sure that has contributed to the general atmosphere of doom and gloom that seems to define this feel-bad era.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2024

Let’s not mince words: The Tomorrow War is the feel-bad movie of the year.

From Slate • Jul. 15, 2021

Which made it a bespoke fit for Lemonada Media, a podcast network founded in 2019 that creates feel-good stories about feel-bad issues.

From New York Times • May 20, 2021

Feel-good shows fill a purpose — please see Yvonne Villarreal’s “I Love Lucy” suggestion below — but so do multiple seasons of feel-bad reality series that focus on the worst aspects of human behavior.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2020

The more feel-bad moments you have in a game, the less people want to play.”

From The Guardian • Sep. 17, 2019