bad actor

noun

plural bad actors
: a person, group, country, etc. who purposely and usually repeatedly engages in very bad behavior (such as committing crimes or causing harm to others)
Giving users a way to prove that they're being harassed with, say, a screenshot or some other form of authentication could help Twitter catch bad actors, even after they've covered their tracks.Issie Lapowsky
A perennial diplomatic bad actor, North Korea has already rattled its sabers at the opening of the Obama administration.Alex Kingsbury
"We've got to break away from the notion," as the U.A.W.'s [United Auto Workers] director of public relations, Peter G. Laarman, puts it, "that labor is a 'bad actor' in the economy. …"Harry Stein
also : something that causes trouble, danger, or a problem
The bad actor in male pattern hair loss is DHT, a metabolic product of testosterone. Jane E. Brody
We have special ducts throughout the vapor bath that carry away all the toxic bad actors. PC Today

Examples of bad actor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
These types of schemes are on the rise, especially among young boys, and the law is intended to prevent kids from encountering bad actors on the hunt for a payday. PC Magazine, 15 Aug. 2025 The company flagged that deepfakes were now increasingly being used in fraud, and called for new legislation to curb bad actors from using these technologies. Lionel Lim, Fortune, 13 Aug. 2025 Rather than targeting bad actors, AB 84 casts a wide net that will harm schools doing critical work — and, more importantly, harm the students who rely on us. Christian Garcia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Aug. 2025 On-the-other-hand, SB 414 outlines reasonable oversight that will reduce opportunities for bad actors to take advantage of the flexibility that so many students rely on. Steven Choi, Oc Register, 30 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for bad actor

Word History

First Known Use

1879, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bad actor was in 1879

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Cite this Entry

“Bad actor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bad%20actor. Accessed 31 Aug. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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