bad

¹bad

adjective \ˈbad\

worse \ˈwərs\ worst \ˈwərst\

Definition of BAD

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

bad·der bad·dest slang

a : good, great

b : tough, mean

— bad·ness noun

Examples of BAD

1. The house is in bad condition.
2. a letter written in bad French
3. He had a bad day at the office.
4. I was having a bad dream.
5. She made a very bad impression on her future colleagues.
6. We've been having bad weather lately.
7. The medicine left a bad taste in his mouth.
8. It's a bad time for business right now.
9. Things are looking pretty bad for us at this point.
10. I have a bad feeling about this.

Origin of BAD

Middle English

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to BAD

Synonyms

bastard, bush, bush-league, crummy (also crumby), deficient, dissatisfactory, ill, inferior, lame, lousy, off, paltry, poor, punk, sour, suboptimal, subpar, substandard, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wack [slang], wanting, wretched, wrong, below (or under) par, from hunger

Antonyms

acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, fine, OK (or okay), passable, respectable, satisfactory, standard, tolerable

Related Words

abysmal, atrocious, awful, bitchin' [slang], brutal, damnable, deplorable, detestable, disastrous, dreadful, execrable, gnarly [slang], horrendous, horrible, pathetic, stinky, sucky [slang], terrible, unspeakable; defective, faulty, flawed; egregious, flagrant, gross; bum, cheesy, coarse, common, crappy [slang], cut-rate, junky, lesser, low-grade, low-rent, mediocre, miserable, reprehensible, rotten, rubbishy, second-rate, shoddy, sleazy, trashy; abominable, odious, vile; useless, valueless, worthless; inadequate, insufficient, lacking, meager (or meagre), mean, miserly, niggardly, scanty, shabby, short, skimp, skimpy, spare, stingy; miscreant, scurrilous, villainous; counterfeit, fake, phony (also phoney), sham

Near Antonyms

classic, classical; A1, bang-up, banner, boss [slang], capital, choice, crackerjack, dandy, divine, excellent, exceptional, fabulous, fine, first-class, first-rate, grand, great, groovy, heavenly, high-test, jim-dandy, keen, marvelous (or marvellous), mean, neat, nifty, noble, par excellence, perfect, premium, prime, sensational, slick, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supernal, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch, unsurpassed, wonderful; better, exceptional, fancy, high-grade, special, sufficient; average, borderline, fair, mediocre, middling, minimal, so-so, unexceptional; suitable, useful, worthy; gratifying, satisfying

Rhymes with BAD

ad, add, brad, cad, chad, Chad, clad, dad, fad, gad, Gad, glad, grad, lad, mad, pad, plaid, rad, sad, scad, shad, tad, trad

²bad

noun

Definition of BAD

1

: something that is bad

2

: an evil or unhappy state

3

: fault 4 <the mistake was my bad>

Examples of BAD

1. There's more good than bad in him.
2. We need to teach our children the difference between good and bad.
3. teaching children the difference between the good and the bad
4. He believes that the good go to heaven when they die and the bad go to hell.

First Known Use of BAD

15th century

Related to BAD

Synonyms

evil, evildoing, ill, immorality, iniquity, sin, villainy, wrong

Antonyms

good, morality, right, virtue

Related Words

atrociousness, atrocity, badness, balefulness, darkness, depravedness, devilishness, diabolism, enormity, evilness, heinousness, iniquitousness, satanism, sinfulness, vileness, wickedness; devilry (or deviltry), fiendishness; cancer, canker, decay, rot, squalor; corruption, debauchery, degeneracy, depravity, indecency, malefaction, perversion, pervertedness, scurrility, scurrilousness; abomination, anathema, taboo (also tabu)

Near Antonyms

decency, goodness, honesty, integrity, probity, rectitude, uprightness; goodness, righteousness, virtuousness

³bad

adverb

Definition of BAD

: badly <not doing so bad> <doesn't want it bad enough>

Examples of BAD

1. He hasn't succeeded because he doesn't want it bad enough.
2. <you didn't do too bad on the treadmill test>

First Known Use of BAD

1681

Related to BAD

Synonyms

badly, deficiently, inadequately, lousily, poorly, unacceptably, unsatisfactorily, wretchedly

Antonyms

acceptably, adequately, all right, fine, good, nicely, OK (or okay), palatably, passably, satisfactorily, so-so, tolerably, well

Related Words

abysmally, atrociously, awfully, damnably, deplorably, detestably, disastrously, dreadfully, execrably, horrendously, horribly, horrifically, rottenly, terribly; intolerably, unbearably; inappropriately, incorrectly, indecently, reprehensibly, unsuitably, vulgarly; naughtily; egregiously, flagrantly, grossly; miserably, shoddily, sleazily, trashily, unspeakably; abominably, odiously, vilely; inferiorly, insufficiently, meagerly, meanly, niggardly, scantily, scantly, shabbily, skimpily, sparely, stingily

Near Antonyms

appropriately, congruously, correctly, decently, decorously, felicitously, fittingly, meetly, rightly, seemly, suitably; exactly, faithfully, ideally, precisely, respectably; gratifyingly, satisfyingly