adjectiveWord forms: worse or worst1. not good; of poor quality; inadequate; inferior
bad workmanship
bad soil
bad light for reading
2. (often foll by at) lacking skill or talent; incompetent
a bad painter
bad at sports
3. (often foll by for) harmful
bad air
smoking is bad for you
4. immoral; evil
a bad life
5. naughty; mischievous; disobedient
a bad child
6. rotten; decayed; spoiled
a bad egg
7. severe; intense
a bad headache
8. incorrect; wrong; faulty
bad pronunciation
9. ill or in pain (esp in the phrase feel bad)
10. regretful, sorry, or upset (esp in the phrase feel bad about)
11. unfavourable; distressing
bad news
a bad business
12. offensive; unpleasant; disagreeable
bad language
bad temper
13. not valid or sound; void
a bad cheque
14. not recoverable
a bad debt
15. Word forms: badder or baddest slang good; excellent
16. go bad
17. go from bad to worse
18. in a bad way
19. in someone's bad books
20. make the best of a bad job
21. not bad
22. not half bad
23. too bad
noun24. unfortunate or unpleasant events collectively (often in the phrase take the bad with the good)
25. an immoral or degenerate state (often in the phrase go to the bad)
26. the debit side of an account
£200 to the bad
27. my bad
adverb28. not standard badly
to want something bad
Word origin
C13: probably from
bæd-, as the first element of Old English
bǣddel hermaphrodite