bad news

noun

plural in form but singular in construction

: one that is troublesome, unwelcome, or dangerous

stay away from him, he's bad news

Examples of bad news in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Riz Ahmed plays Ganesh, the close scientific adviser to Digger who is actually rooted in the real world, and therefore has to be the messenger of bad news. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 29 Sep. 2026

Demand all the bad news, then decide whether to defend or take the hit. — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Gabriel’s Law passes after long fight by Lackey Newsom’s weekend of bill signings and vetoes was far from pure bad news for Lackey, however. — Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 22 Sep. 2026

For now, that's not necessarily bad news for the United States. — Brandi D. Addison, USA Today, 22 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1917, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bad news

• accrues
• accuse
• aircrews
• amuse
• bamboos
• breakthroughs
• canoes
• cashews
• chartreuse
• confuse
• construes
• defuse