bad
- adjective
- /bæd/
- Stealing from others is a bad act that harms the community and violates trust.
- a bad guy
- good and bad
- bad behavior
I've seen good, great people do bad things in a moment.
- I've seen good, great people do bad things in a moment.
- Those are bad, actually, not just bad, but evil.
- If you can't do that, you're a bad citizen.
- And when I mean bad, I mean like illegal.
- The the strong become bad, the weak become good.
- She hadn't spoken to me and she said a bad man shot Uncle Jack.
- Don't be a bad son or daughter.
- Us and them always bad, always bad, in my opinion.
Examples
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Behavior is classified as "good" or "bad" by the teacher or by the administration.
Academic text (1991) -
I'm afraid we have some bad news.
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Those are bad, actually, not just bad, but evil.
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I have been a bad boy.
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Oh, God, am I a bad influence...
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Would that really be so bad?
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I've seen good, great people do bad things in a moment.
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They stopped me from doing bad things to myself.
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When she was good, she was very, very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid.
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The good guys are a little bad, and the bad guys aren't all bad.
Academic text (1999)
Synonyms
Being very bad and morally wrong, often causing harm to others
Connected with evil or with being kept hidden
Very bad or offensive in a moral way
Very bad and morally wrong
A person or action that is very bad and cruel
Very wrong and deserving strong blame
Wrong according to religious or moral rules
Very bad and cruel in the way someone behaves
Very bad and illegal, done to harm people
Very evil and cruel, like a devil
Morally wrong because it goes against religious rules
Very bad and cruel, often hurting other people
Very unfair and wrong in a way that harms people
Wanting to hurt people or cause harm
Not good or pleasant, often used jokingly
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
Put someone into a difficult situation they cannot control because of bad luck
- Informal
To put someone into a bad or difficult situation because of bad luck
- Specialized
When people use bad money, they keep better money and it disappears
Compounds
- Informal
A feeling of anger or dislike between people that often leads to hostility
- Specialized
A check from an account without enough money that the bank does not pay
A treatment that is not helpful or is unpleasant but sometimes needed to make you better
- Specialized
A part of a disk where data cannot be read or written because it is damaged
- Specialized
A block in a blockchain that the network computers do not accept because it breaks the rules
- Informal
A place believed to be for punishment after death or a very bad situation
How Immoral
Surface Forms
Etymology
Bad originally meant simply 'not good', and over time it was used for actions and people who do wrong. That is why bad can mean 'morally wrong' or 'evil'.