bad
1 of 3adjective
ˈbad 
worse ˈwərs ; worst ˈwərst
; worst ˈwərst 1
a
: failing to reach an acceptable standard : poor
a bad repair job
b
: unfavorable
make a bad impression
c
: not fresh : spoiled
bad fish
d
: not sound : dilapidated
the house was in bad condition
2
a
: morally objectionable : evil
bad men
b
: mischievous, disobedient
a bad dog
3
: inadequate or unsuited to a purpose
a bad plan
bad lighting
4
: disagreeable, unpleasant
bad news
5
a
: injurious, harmful
a bad influence
b
: serious, severe
in bad trouble
a bad cough
6
: incorrect, faulty
bad grammar
7
a
: suffering pain or distress
felt generally bad
b
: unhealthy, diseased
bad teeth
8
: sorrowful, sorry
feels bad about forgetting to call
9
a
: invalid, void
a bad check
b
: not able to be collected
a bad debt
10
badder; baddest slang
a
: good, great
one of the baddest songwriters to be found anywhere—
Black Collegian
Black Collegian b
: tough, mean
the baddest guy on the block
badness noun
bad
2 of 3noun
1
: something that is bad
There's more good than bad in him.
Take the good with the bad.
2
: an evil or unhappy state
Things went from bad to worse.
3
: fault sense 2
the mistake was my bad
bad
3 of 3adverb
: badly
not doing so bad
doesn't want it bad enough
Phrases
not bad : fairly or acceptably good
She eyes the other girls' clothes. A bright orange skirt. Good. A black cocktail dress with a gold belt. Not bad. A white dress with a blousy, frilly top. Hideous.—Karl Taro Greenfeld
: quite good or impressive Karl Taro GreenfeldFor the second time in three games, Patrick Roy blanked the Dallas Stars. Not bad for a player who insists he is not a shutout goalie.—The New York Times
The New York Times
Synonyms
Adjective
- bastard
- bush
- bush-league
- crummy
- crumby
- deficient
- dissatisfactory
- ill
- inferior
- lame
- lousy
- off
- paltry
- poor
- punk
- sour
- suboptimal
- subpar
- substandard
- unacceptable
- unsatisfactory
- wack [slang]
- wanting
- wretched
- wrong
Noun
- evil
- evildoing
- ill
- immorality
- iniquity
- sin
- villainy
- wrong
Adverb
- badly
- deficiently
- inadequately
- lousily
- poorly
- unacceptably
- unsatisfactorily
- wretchedly
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Adjective The house is in bad condition. a letter written in bad French He had a bad day at the office. I was having a bad dream. She made a very bad impression on her future colleagues. We've been having bad weather lately. The medicine left a bad taste in his mouth. It's a bad time for business right now. Things are looking pretty bad for us at this point. I have a bad feeling about this. Noun There's more good than bad in him. We need to teach our children the difference between good and bad. teaching children the difference between the good and the bad He believes that the good go to heaven when they die and the bad go to hell. Adverb He hasn't succeeded because he doesn't want it bad enough. you didn't do too bad on the treadmill test See More
Recent Examples on the WebKay Lazar, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Feb. 2023 While Putin is still bombing and attacking, people think the situation is not so bad. —Robyn Dixon And Catherine Belton, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Feb. 2023 The possibility of more bad weather loomed; the national weather agency, MetService, was warning of severe thunderstorms with possible hail in the North Island later Thursday night. —Natasha Frost, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2023 The 1962 NL Rookie of the Year had his pilot’s license for two weeks and was flying in bad weather. —Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2023 Search and recovery efforts had to be halted at the end of last week because of bad weather and rough seas. —Luis Martinez, ABC News, 14 Feb. 2023 In bad weather, the high collar and adjustable hood create a barrier to incoming rain and wind. —Kevin Brouillard, Travel + Leisure, 14 Feb. 2023 Several breakfast staples saw sharp price increases due to a perfect storm of bad weather and disease outbreaks—and continued effects from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. —Gabriel T. Rubin, WSJ, 14 Feb. 2023 The timing is also not a sure thing, but the most likely time frame for bad weather will begin Thursday afternoon in west Alabama and spread eastward through the evening hours. —Leigh Morgan, al, 14 Feb. 2023 Jessica Wang, EW.com, 25 Nov. 2022 Quantumania stars Evangeline Lilly as Hope, Kathryn Newton as Cassie, and Jonathan Majors as Kang, the MCU's new big bad who was introduced last year in Loki. —Clark Collis, EW.com, 24 Oct. 2022 Emma Caulfield will reprise her role as Dottie, the neighbor to Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda that some audiences theorized would be the big bad of WandaVision. —Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Oct. 2022 Up until this point, the show had led viewers to believe that the big bad was Doomsday, the beast who famously killed Superman in the comics. —Chancellor Agard, EW.com, 26 Jan. 2022 And yet, no, Savathun is not the big bad of the entire Destiny franchise. —Paul Tassi, Forbes, 8 Sep. 2021 Wanda and Captain Marvel, the only other female Avenger to helm her own property so far, are the two members of the team who could have defeated the big bad of the last two Avengers films, Thanos. —New York Times, 11 Mar. 2021 The accidental bumps and sorrys and quiet my bads create a low hum as the group finds its rhythm behind Jaydon. —Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 29 Aug. 2019 And the true halfway point of Mr. Robot would’ve come sometime during S3, which ends by finally putting Elliot in direct odds with big bads White Rose and the Dark Army. —Nathan Mattise, Ars Technica, 14 Dec. 2017 Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2015 However, employees can’t be completely reckless on social media, making untrue or maliciously disparaging statements, or bad-mouthing their employer with broad-stroke commentary. —Johnny C. Taylor Jr., USA TODAY, 8 Nov. 2022 After an online Twitter feud where CZ accused SBF of allegedly bad-mouthing him to regulators, the Binance CEO announced on Sunday the company would be dumping all of its holdings of FTT, a token used by FTX customers. —Tristan Bove, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2022 Also, if exposed to too much heat, humidity, or other elements, the gummies can go bad faster than the expiration date. —Laxmi Corp, The Salt Lake Tribune, 30 Sep. 2022 Kids get a lot of their confidence and sense of self-worth from their families — thus the emphasis on parents’ not bad-mouthing each other. —Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2022 And so all those businesses on the way into Yosemite on the south are hurting pretty bad. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 18 July 2022 The parents of the Oxford school shooting suspect have reached their limit with the prosecutor and are asking a judge to sanction her for allegedly ignoring their requests to stop bad-mouthing them and calling them liars. —Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, 21 June 2022 The Fed’s bad-tasting medicine may slow it down eventually, but the medicine takes some time to work. —John Dorfman, Forbes, 25 Apr. 2022 See More
Adjective
Paragliding was on his itinerary during a 2021 trip to Greece before bad weather interfered. —Kay Lazar, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Feb. 2023 While Putin is still bombing and attacking, people think the situation is not so bad. —Robyn Dixon And Catherine Belton, Anchorage Daily News, 20 Feb. 2023 The possibility of more bad weather loomed; the national weather agency, MetService, was warning of severe thunderstorms with possible hail in the North Island later Thursday night. —Natasha Frost, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2023 The 1962 NL Rookie of the Year had his pilot’s license for two weeks and was flying in bad weather. —Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2023 Search and recovery efforts had to be halted at the end of last week because of bad weather and rough seas. —Luis Martinez, ABC News, 14 Feb. 2023 In bad weather, the high collar and adjustable hood create a barrier to incoming rain and wind. —Kevin Brouillard, Travel + Leisure, 14 Feb. 2023 Several breakfast staples saw sharp price increases due to a perfect storm of bad weather and disease outbreaks—and continued effects from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. —Gabriel T. Rubin, WSJ, 14 Feb. 2023 The timing is also not a sure thing, but the most likely time frame for bad weather will begin Thursday afternoon in west Alabama and spread eastward through the evening hours. —Leigh Morgan, al, 14 Feb. 2023 Noun
While others baked sourdough, Criminal Minds: Evolution's new big bad built a network of serial killers during the pandemic. —Jessica Wang, EW.com, 25 Nov. 2022 Quantumania stars Evangeline Lilly as Hope, Kathryn Newton as Cassie, and Jonathan Majors as Kang, the MCU's new big bad who was introduced last year in Loki. —Clark Collis, EW.com, 24 Oct. 2022 Emma Caulfield will reprise her role as Dottie, the neighbor to Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda that some audiences theorized would be the big bad of WandaVision. —Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Oct. 2022 Up until this point, the show had led viewers to believe that the big bad was Doomsday, the beast who famously killed Superman in the comics. —Chancellor Agard, EW.com, 26 Jan. 2022 And yet, no, Savathun is not the big bad of the entire Destiny franchise. —Paul Tassi, Forbes, 8 Sep. 2021 Wanda and Captain Marvel, the only other female Avenger to helm her own property so far, are the two members of the team who could have defeated the big bad of the last two Avengers films, Thanos. —New York Times, 11 Mar. 2021 The accidental bumps and sorrys and quiet my bads create a low hum as the group finds its rhythm behind Jaydon. —Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 29 Aug. 2019 And the true halfway point of Mr. Robot would’ve come sometime during S3, which ends by finally putting Elliot in direct odds with big bads White Rose and the Dark Army. —Nathan Mattise, Ars Technica, 14 Dec. 2017 Adverb
The researchers think that by expelling their bad-tasting innards when fish are nibbling nearby, sea squirts may drive the fish away. —Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2015 However, employees can’t be completely reckless on social media, making untrue or maliciously disparaging statements, or bad-mouthing their employer with broad-stroke commentary. —Johnny C. Taylor Jr., USA TODAY, 8 Nov. 2022 After an online Twitter feud where CZ accused SBF of allegedly bad-mouthing him to regulators, the Binance CEO announced on Sunday the company would be dumping all of its holdings of FTT, a token used by FTX customers. —Tristan Bove, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2022 Also, if exposed to too much heat, humidity, or other elements, the gummies can go bad faster than the expiration date. —Laxmi Corp, The Salt Lake Tribune, 30 Sep. 2022 Kids get a lot of their confidence and sense of self-worth from their families — thus the emphasis on parents’ not bad-mouthing each other. —Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 29 Aug. 2022 And so all those businesses on the way into Yosemite on the south are hurting pretty bad. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 18 July 2022 The parents of the Oxford school shooting suspect have reached their limit with the prosecutor and are asking a judge to sanction her for allegedly ignoring their requests to stop bad-mouthing them and calling them liars. —Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, 21 June 2022 The Fed’s bad-tasting medicine may slow it down eventually, but the medicine takes some time to work. —John Dorfman, Forbes, 25 Apr. 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English badde, bad, of obscure origin
Note: The Middle English word apparently appears as a surname or element in surnames in the 13th century, but as an independent adjective not before the 14th century. The supposed connection with the marginally attested Old English words bæddel, bædling (vowel length uncertain) "hermaphrodite, homosexual" is possible but uncertain (direct descent of badde from bæddel through phonetic reduction is unlikely).
Noun
Middle English badde, noun derivative of badde bad entry 1
Adverb
adverbial derivative of bad entry 1
First Known Use
Adjective
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1c
Noun
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1c
Adverb
1575, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing bad
Kids Definition
bad
1 of 3 adjective ˈbad
worse ˈwərs ; worst ˈwərst
; worst ˈwərst 1
a
: below standard : poor
b
: not favorable
a bad impression
c
: rotten sense 1
bad meat
2
: not good or right : morally evil or wrong
a bad person
bad behavior
3
: not enough
bad lighting
4
: disagreeable sense 1, unpleasant
bad news
5
a
: harmful
bad for the health
b
: severe sense 3
a bad cold
6
: incorrect, faulty
bad spelling
7
: ill entry 1 sense 2c, sick
feel bad
8
: sorrowful sense 1, sorry
don't feel bad about losing
badness noun
bad
2 of 3 noun1
: a bad thing or part
take the bad with the good
2
: a bad or unhappy state
go to the bad
bad
3 of 3 adverb : badly
not doing so bad
Legal Definition
bad
adjective : not valid : void
bad notice
especially : not covered by sufficient funds
a bad check
badness
noun
as in evilness
the state or quality of being utterly evil the villain's complete badness made him a good foil for the unfailingly virtuous hero Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- evilness
- sinfulness
- atrocity
- vileness
- heinousness
- wickedness
- corruption
- hideousness
- depravity
- atrociousness
- enormity
- depravedness
- fiendishness
- notoriety
- devilishness
- baseness
- diabolicalness
- immorality
- hellishness
- decadence
- degeneracy
- monstrosity
- infamy
- accursedness
- cursedness
- execrableness
- pervertedness
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- goodness
- morality
- righteousness
- virtuousness
- purity
- innocence
- chasteness