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Glite Dictionary
big and bad

big and bad

1 6.8
Very large and so strong that it scares or impresses people
  • adjective
  • Informal
translation icon : grande y temible
  • She walked into the room with a big and bad attitude, ready to take charge of the meeting.

Examples

  • Are you big and bad enough to handle it?

    Day of the Animals (1977)

  • Something big and bad was going on in Queens.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • A lot of these fighters, they get big and bad and they forget where they're from.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The new roller coaster is big and bad, thrilling everyone who dares to ride it.

  • The monster in the movie was portrayed as big and bad, terrifying all the characters.

Synonyms

strong
vsbig and bad
∞ 1.0

Having great power or influence over people

is more extreme and likely to intimidate
powerful
vsbig and bad
∞ 1.7

Having great physical strength, like a strong machine or person

adds a sense of awe and extreme impact beyond mere force
massive
vsbig and bad
940 2.9

Very large and impressive in scale

emphasizes intimidating impact and awe rather than only sheer size
mighty
vsbig and bad
486 2.9

Very strong and powerful

is more extreme and likely to intimidate or inspire awe
formidable
vsbig and bad
133 7.0

A person or thing that is very powerful and makes people feel respect and fear

leans more toward awe and great impact than only fear
larger-than-life
vsbig and bad
  • Informal
13 4.8

A person or thing that seems bigger and more exciting than normal

focuses more on raw power and threat than grand appearance

Antonyms

weak
524 1.0

Not strong in body or muscles and easily tired

insignificant
104 4.1

Not important or too small to matter

How Powerful

big and bad
  • Informal
1 6.8
powerful
∞ 1.7
formidable
133 7.0
impressive
584 3.4

Surface Forms

big and bad positive

Morphology

big + and + bad

The expression is a straightforward coordination of the adjectives 'big' + 'bad', so its meaning (large and formidable/intimidating) is directly derivable from the constituent words. This follows a common compositional pattern (adj + and + adj) found cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both words will generally infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

The phrase big and bad brings to mind the old children's story about the 'Big Bad Wolf', a large, scary creature that blew down houses. The words big and bad give a clear picture of something powerful and dangerous, so calling something big and bad means it is 'extremely powerful or intimidating'.