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bad

Syllabification: (bad)
Pronunciation: /bad/
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Definition of bad

adjective (worse /wərs/; worst /wərst/)

  • 1of poor quality; inferior or defective:a bad diet bad eyesight
  • (of a person) not able to do something well; incompetent:I’m so bad at names a bad listener
  • 2not such as to be hoped for or desired; unpleasant or unwelcome:bad weather we had the worst luck (as noun the bad)taking the good with the bad
  • (of an unwelcome thing) serious; severe:bad headaches a bad crash a bad mistake
  • unfavorable; adverse:bad reviews
  • harmful:soap was bad for his face
  • not suitable:morning was a bad time to ask Andy about anything
  • 3(of food) decayed; putrid:everything in the fridge would go bad
  • (of the atmosphere) polluted; unhealthy:bad air
  • 4(of parts of the body) injured, diseased, or causing pain:a bad back
  • [as complement] (of a person) unwell:I feel bad
  • 5 [as complement] regretful, guilty, or ashamed about something:working mothers who feel bad about leaving their children
  • 6morally depraved; wicked:the bad guys bad language a bad reputation
  • naughty; badly behaved:what a bad girl bad behavior
  • 7worthless; not valid:he ran up 87 bad checks
  • 8 (badder, baddest) informal, chiefly North American good; excellent:they want the baddest, best-looking Corvette there is

adverb

North American informal
  • badly:he beat her up real bad

Phrases

come to a bad end

see end.

from bad to worse

into an even worse state:the country’s going from bad to worse

in a bad way

ill:Sammy shivered. He was in a bad way
in trouble:the fleet was in a bad way, mainly due to a shortage of spares

my bad

North American informal used to acknowledge responsibility for a mistake:Sorry about the confusion. It’s my bad

not (or not so) bad

informal fairly good:she discovered he wasn’t so bad after all

to the bad

to ruin:I hate to see you going to the bad
in deficit:he was $80 to the bad

too bad

informal used to indicate that something is regrettable but now beyond retrieval:too bad, but that’s the way it is

Derivatives

baddish

adjective

badness

noun

Origin:

Middle English: perhaps representing Old English bǣddel 'hermaphrodite, womanish man'

Confusion in the use of bad versus badly usually has to do with verbs called copulas, such as feel or seem. Thus, standard usage calls for I feel bad, not I feel badly. As a precise speaker or writer would explain, I feel badly means ‘I do not have a good sense of touch.’ See also good (usage).

bad in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of bad in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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