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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

In a video recorded while he was in custody, the suspect issued a message to the victim's family, saying: "I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control."

From BBC • Jun. 28, 2026

"I feel bad for the players because they shouldn't be really playing in that kind of atmosphere," said the 70-year-old former tennis coach.

From Barron's • Jun. 14, 2026

So it was a little surprising that one of the speakers at TPUSA’s Women’s Leadership Summit in San Antonio, Texas, Alex Clark, spoke about how Kirk made her feel bad about herself.

From Salon • Jun. 12, 2026

“He doesn’t feel bad for himself, so I don’t,” she said, noting that she holds immense respect for her parents but has never seen immigration through a “lens of pity.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2026

I feel bad for not being nice, but I feel worse that she’s changing so quickly into someone I barely recognize, while I’m remaining true to myself.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy