bad

1 of 3

adjective

ˈbad

worse ˈwərs

; worst ˈwərst

Synonyms of bad next

: failing to reach an acceptable standard : poor

a bad repair job

: unfavorable

make a bad impression

: not fresh : spoiled

bad fish

: not sound : dilapidated

the house was in bad condition

: morally objectionable : evil

bad men

: mischievous, disobedient

a bad dog

: inadequate or unsuited to a purpose

a bad plan

bad lighting

: disagreeable, unpleasant

bad news

: injurious, harmful

a bad influence

: serious, severe

in bad trouble

a bad cough

: incorrect, faulty

bad grammar

: suffering pain or distress

felt generally bad

: unhealthy, diseased

bad teeth

: sorrowful, sorry

feels bad about forgetting to call

: invalid, void

a bad check

: not able to be collected

a bad debt

badder; baddest slang

: good, great

one of the baddest songwriters to be found anywhere—

Black Collegian

: tough, mean

the baddest guy on the block

badness noun

bad

2 of 3

noun

: something that is bad

There's more good than bad in him.

Take the good with the bad.

: an evil or unhappy state

Things went from bad to worse.

: fault sense 2

the mistake was my bad

bad

3 of 3

adverb

: 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

For 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

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 Web

Adjective

Unexpected French Nail Tips That Totally Reinvent the Classic Look Get more nail inspiration watching these nail experts turn their talons into beautiful butterflies: Our bad! —

Tori Crowther, Allure, 15 Mar. 2023 There was no way of answering the question — are CFCs bad for the health of the planet? —

Steven Johnson, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2023 Photograph: Matthieu Rondel/Bloomberg/Getty Images The drought in parts of France is so bad right now that some authorities have banned new home-building projects—for the next four years. —

WIRED, 14 Mar. 2023 The flooding was so bad, workers had to sweep mountains of water off of the carpet throughout the evening. —

Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2023 In parts of Kern County – where several evacuation orders remain – the flooding was so bad that one resident described seeing a shed, a hot tub, and several full-size trees with their root balls floating down the Kern River in Kernville. —

Nouran Salahieh, CNN, 13 Mar. 2023 In 2022, however, injuries limited Lowe to 65 games, and Wade was just plain bad while hitting .207. —

Ryan Ford, Detroit Free Press, 13 Mar. 2023 This is not just because of the impact that the project will have, though certainly that is bad enough. —

Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2023 Authorities also lack manpower, equipment and training -- things are so bad that authorities aren't even able to identify tens of thousands of bodies that have been found. —

Compiled By Democrat-gazette Staff From Wire Reports, Arkansas Online, 12 Mar. 2023

Noun

So what was the rationale behind introducing our new big bad in the exact opposite way? —

Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Feb. 2023 In addition to setting up the Multiverse Saga, the film also includes the introduction of Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who serves as the new big bad for the MCU. —

Kelsie Gibson, Peoplemag, 17 Feb. 2023 The first to face this new big bad of the MCU’s Phases 5 and 6 will be the multigenerational Lang-Van Dyne-Pym clan, who can also collectively be called Ant-Mans and the Wasps. —

Tracy Brownstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 16 Feb. 2023 Jonathan Majors is playing Marvel's new big bad, Kang the Conqueror, in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and beyond. —

Brendan Morrow, The Week, 15 Feb. 2023 He was played by John Lithgow as the big bad of season four. —

Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Feb. 2023 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

Adverb

Who wants frustrated and stressed-out workers bad-mouthing the company to their peers, right? —

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2023 Ignoring one of them can lead you to bad-looking maps no one would prefer. —

J. Richard Gott, Scientific American, 17 Feb. 2021 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 See More

These 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.

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

Time Traveler