bad news
Americannoun
noun
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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]
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The amount charged for something, as in Waiter, bring our check—I want to see the bad news . [ Slang ; 1920s]
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.
So are the latest announcements good or bad news for the country's shipbuilders - and what's behind them?
From BBC • Jul. 1, 2026
That’s the good news, but the bad news is that once again, expectations have risen.
From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026
Such a delay would be “good news for the application side, but bad news for the cloud-infrastructure side,” he said.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 26, 2026
In Group L, a point or more for Croatia against Ghana could be bad news for Scotland as it would again leave the third-place finishers with four points.
From BBC • Jun. 24, 2026
I don’t know about anyone else, but thirty seconds without bad news and I’m bored.
From "Lawn Boy Returns" by Gary Paulsen
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.
