bad terms
1
5.4
- noun
:
malas relaciones
- Fred, I don't want to leave on bad terms.
- leave on bad terms
Examples
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Pol said the veterinarian consulted for the second opinion worked briefly for him 20 years ago, and they parted on bad terms.
Blog text (32) -
On bad terms…
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I know we left on bad terms.
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The first person I was with, we ended up breaking up on rather bad terms.
Blog text (2) -
I was unhappy about being on bad terms with him.
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"But my wife and Keigo's wife were on bad terms."
Fiction book (1998) -
- On bad terms?
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The two of them were on bad terms after their argument.
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I know we left on bad terms when we last spoke.
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It was unfortunate that we had to end our relationship on bad terms.
Synonyms
28
4.8
A feeling of anger or dislike between people that often leads to hostility
26
5.6
Strong disagreement between people or groups
3
4.2
A relationship that has frequent problems and disagreements
1
3.6
Not friendly with someone because of a disagreement
A way that people, groups, or countries behave and deal with each other
Antonyms
How Friendly
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a poor or hostile relationship' is directly compositional: 'bad' (negative) modifies 'terms' (the way people relate or the conditions of a relationship), so the combined sense follows predictably from the parts. This adjective+noun pattern (as in 'on bad terms') is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase bad terms may come from old meetings about a deal, when the terms, the conditions of the deal, were bad and the people left angry. So, to be on bad terms means to have 'a poor or hostile relationship'.