Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

go bad

Idioms  

  1. Spoil, decay; also, turn to crime. For example, You can tell from the smell that this milk has gone bad, or If he keeps running around with that street gang, he's sure to go bad. [Late 1800s]

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.

Even with all this, the Rams were driving in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead or at least make a dent in a four-point deficit when another decision went bad.

From Los Angeles Times

“We’re not opening our freezer up until the last minute. If we open it up now, the food will go bad that much faster. Probably going to lose all of it anyway.”

From Literature

"I think yes, if people are going to go bad, they go bad, but you can't tar a whole religion based on your prejudices."

From BBC

“That shows personality and character. I never felt, ‘oh, just because it went bad in one club, that I’m gonna stay on the ground.’

From Los Angeles Times

But for every success story, there are many tales of flips gone bad.

From The Wall Street Journal

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.