bad
adjective
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worst\ ˈwərst
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Definition of bad
(Entry 1 of 3)
bad
nounDefinition of bad (Entry 2 of 3)
bad
adverbDefinition of bad (Entry 3 of 3)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for bad
Synonyms: Adjective
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
Synonyms: Noun
evil, evildoing, ill, immorality, iniquity, sin, villainy, wrong
Synonyms: Adverb
badly, deficiently, inadequately, lousily, poorly, unacceptably, unsatisfactorily, wretchedly
Antonyms: Adjective
acceptable, adequate, all right, decent, fine, OK (or okay), passable, respectable, satisfactory, standard, tolerable
Antonyms: Noun
Antonyms: Adverb
acceptably, adequately, all right, fine, good, nicely, OK (or okay), palatably, passably, satisfactorily, so-so, tolerably, well
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Examples of bad in a Sentence
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
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
The onslaught has been particularly bad in the small hamlet of Belushya Guba, which has reported 50 sightings of polar bears since December, according to the report. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "'Mass Invasion' of Polar Bears Descends on Remote Russian Village in Search of Food," 11 Feb. 2019 Rather than wiping their brows with relief that the fourth quarter wasn’t so bad, investors should start looking to the future and picking winners. — Justin Lahart, WSJ, "The Dreaded Earnings Slowdown Is Here," 11 Feb. 2019 As if pushing back one episode wasn't bad enough, this also means that the This Is Us season 3 finale is getting delayed. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "'This Is Us' Fans Are Fuming After New Season 3 Episode and Finale Are Delayed," 30 Jan. 2019 Yet precisely because the wall idea is so bad, Democrats, rightly, aren’t going to give it away for free. — Matthew Yglesias, Vox, "The shutdown is intractable because Trump’s wall is ridiculous and Republicans know it," 8 Jan. 2019 These bad actors include chronic stress, a lack of exercise and restorative sleep, toxins from molds, and fat-laden fast foods. — Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, "A New Treatment for Alzheimer's? It Starts With Lifestyle," 16 Nov. 2018 Movies and television shows capitalize on depicting teens at their worst. — Jennifer Breheny Wallace, WSJ, "Don’t Think the Worst About Your Teenager," 30 Jan. 2019 Arizona finished 1-7 at home, its worst since moving from St. Louis 30 years ago. — Bob Baum, The Seattle Times, "Wilks even-keeled in what could be last week as Cards coach," 24 Dec. 2018 Corporate consolidation makes the problem even worse. — Karl Bode, The Verge, "How the new AT&T could bully its way to streaming domination," 18 Dec. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
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, "Mr. Robot S3: If you abandoned f-society last year, it’s time to come back," 14 Dec. 2017 Some good news to buffer the bad: Andreas Athanasiou will practice with the Detroit Red Wings Wednesday, and could be in the lineup this trip. — Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, "Red Wings lament lack of offense, look forward to Athanasiou's return," 25 Oct. 2017 Our big bads in the Hawkins federal lab seem to be ramping up to factor heavily into this modern theme. — Nathan Mattise, Ars Technica, "Stranger Things 2: The hype strikes back, but the story alliance is ready," 31 Oct. 2017 Domestic Goods — and Bads: Robin Thicke and model girlfriend April Love Geary are expecting a baby. … — Christie D'zurilla, latimes.com, "Did You Hear ... ? Late-night TV takes on Trump, Tom Cruise lands hard and more from the week in entertainment," 19 Aug. 2017Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb
As bad a beating as the left took this year, losses may be starker and deeper in years to come. — The Economist, "Justice Kennedy is retiring. What happens now?," 30 June 2018 While survey data might be more representative, people are notoriously bad at reporting their own behaviors. — Rani Molla, Recode, "Americans seem to like ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft. But it’s hard to say exactly how many use them.," 24 June 2018 Not bad a for a team that has had trouble finding the net all season. — Jeremy Fuchs, SI.com, "Power Rankings: Are the Lightning and Predators on a Stanley Cup Final Crash Course?," 12 Mar. 2018 Harnack says this is a difficult topic to research because only a few large chains have posted calorie information to date, and people are also notoriously bad a estimating their calorie intake. — CBS News, "Does posting calorie counts change what we order?," 8 May 2018 Restaurant diners are notoriously bad at keeping reservations. — Aubrey Nagle, Philly.com, "Sixers star needs surgery, S. Jersey church hires armed police, Nova Nation preps for Final Four | Morning Newsletter," 30 Mar. 2018 Quinn dumped offensive line coach Ron Prince and replaced him with Jeff Davidson, who has a history of turning around bad running teams. — Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press, "How this NFL draft could propel Detroit Lions into playoffs," 28 Apr. 2018 If this becomes another 218 Arch St., the developer, L&I, the city, everybody is going to look very bad all over. — Stephan Salisbury, Philly.com, "Proposed West Philly apartments may sit atop an old graveyard," 24 Jan. 2018 Turns out ants are really bad at picking up on nestmates infected with this particular fungus. — Kate Sheridan, Newsweek, "Zombie Apocalypse: Ants Can't Tell When Their Colony Is Overrun by a Deadly Fungus," 14 Mar. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bad.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Statistics for bad
Last Updated
16 Feb 2019
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Time Traveler for bad
The first known use of bad was in the 13th century
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More Definitions for bad
bad
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of bad
(Entry 1 of 2)
bad
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of bad (Entry 2 of 2)
See the full definition for bad in the English Language Learners Dictionary
bad
adjective
\
Kids Definition of bad
bad
adjectiveLegal Definition of bad
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