having a wicked or evil character; morally reprehensible: There is no such thing as a bad boy.
3.
of poor or inferior quality; defective; deficient: a bad diamond; a bad spark plug.
4.
inadequate or below standard; not satisfactory for use: bad heating; Living conditions in some areas are very bad.
5.
inaccurate, incorrect, or faulty: a bad guess.
6.
invalid, unsound, or false: a bad insurance claim; bad judgment.
7.
causing or liable to cause sickness or ill health; injurious or harmful: Too much sugar is bad for your teeth.
8.
suffering from sickness, ill health, pain, or injury; sick; ill: He felt bad from eating the green apples.
9.
not healthy or in good physical condition; diseased, decayed, or physically weakened: A bad heart kept him out of the army.
10.
tainted, spoiled, or rotten, esp. to the point of being inedible: The meat is bad because you left it out of the refrigerator too long.
11.
having a disastrous or detrimental effect, result, or tendency; unfavorable: The drought is bad for the farmers. His sloppy appearance made a bad impression.
12.
causing or characterized by discomfort, inconvenience, uneasiness, or annoyance; disagreeable; unpleasant: I had a bad flight to Chicago.
13.
easily provoked to anger; irascible: a bad temper.
14.
cross, irritable, or surly: If I don't have my morning coffee, I'm in a bad mood all day.
15.
more uncomfortable, persistent, painful, or dangerous than usual; severe: a bad attack of asthma.
16.
causing or resulting in disaster or severe damage or destruction: a bad flood.
17.
regretful, contrite, dejected, or upset: He felt bad about having to leave the children all alone.
18.
disobedient, naughty, or misbehaving: If you're bad at school, you'll go to bed without supper.
19.
disreputable or dishonorable: He's getting a bad name from changing jobs so often.
20.
displaying a lack of skill, talent, proficiency, or judgment: a bad painting; Bad drivers cause most of the accidents.
21.
causing distress; unfortunate or unfavorable: I'm afraid I have bad news for you.
22.
not suitable or appropriate; disadvantageous or dangerous: It was a bad day for fishing.
23.
inclement; considered too stormy, hot, cold, etc.: We had a bad winter with a lot of snow.
24.
disagreeable or offensive to the senses: a bad odor.
25.
exhibiting a lack of artistic sensitivity: The room was decorated in bad taste.
26.
not in keeping with a standard of behavior or conduct; coarse: bad manners.
27.
(of a word, speech, or writing)
a.
vulgar, obscene, or blasphemous: bad language.
b.
not properly observing rules or customs of grammar, usage, spelling, etc.; incorrect: He speaks bad English.
28.
unattractive, esp. because of a lack of pleasing proportions: She has a bad figure.
29.
(of the complexion) marred by defects; pockmarked or pimply; blemished: bad skin.
30.
not profitable or worth the price paid: The land was a bad buy.
31.
Commerce. deemed uncollectible or irrecoverable and treated as a loss: a bad debt.
32.
ill-spent; wasted: Don't throw good money after bad money.
33.
counterfeit; not genuine: There was a bad ten-dollar bill in with the change.
34.
having the character of a villain; villainous: In the movies the good guys always beat the bad guys.
35.
Sports. failing to land within the in-bounds limits of a court or section of a court; missing the mark; not well aimed.
36.
Slang. outstandingly excellent; first-rate: He's a bad man on drums, and the fans love him.
–noun
37.
that which is bad: You have to take the bad with the good.
38.
a bad condition, character, or quality: His health seemed to go from bad to worse.
39.
(used with a plural verb) evil persons collectively (usually prec. by the): The bad are always stirring up trouble.
–adverb Informal.
40.
badly: He wanted it bad enough to steal it.
—Idioms
41.
bad off, in poor or distressed condition or circumstances; destitute: His family has been pretty bad off since he lost his job. Also, badly off.Compare well-off.
42.
go to the bad, to deteriorate physically or morally; go to ruin: She wept at seeing her son go to the bad.
43.
in a bad way, in severe trouble or distress.
44.
in bad, Informal.
a.
in trouble or distress.
b.
in disfavor: He's in bad with his father-in-law.
45.
my bad, Slang. my fault! my mistake!
—Idioms
46.
not bad,
a.
tolerably good; not without merit: The dinner wasn't bad, but I've had better.
b.
not difficult: Once you know geometry, trigonometry isn't bad.
Also, not so bad, not too bad.
47.
too bad, unfortunate or disappointing: It's too bad that he didn't go to college.
48.
to the bad, in arrears: He's $100 to the bad on his debt.
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME badde, perh. akin to OE bæddel hermaphrodite, bædling womanish man]
—Related forms
badness, noun
—Synonyms 2. depraved, corrupt, base, sinful, criminal, atrocious. Bad,evil,ill,wicked are closest in meaning in reference to that which is lacking in moral qualities or is actually vicious and reprehensible. Bad is the broadest and simplest term: a bad man; bad habits. Evil applies to that which violates or leads to the violation of moral law: evil practices. Ill now appears mainly in certain fixed expressions, with a milder implication than that in evil: ill will; ill-natured. Wicked implies willful and determined doing of what is very wrong: a wicked plan. 10. putrefied. 21. adverse, unlucky, unhappy.
—Usage note The adjective bad meaning “unpleasant, unattractive, unfavorable, spoiled, etc.,” is the usual form to follow such copulative verbs as sound, smell, look, and taste: After the rainstorm the water tasted bad. The coach says the locker room smells bad. After the copulative verb feel, the adjective badly in reference to physical or emotional states is also used and is standard, although bad is more common in formal writing: I feel bad from overeating. She felt badly about her friend's misfortune. When the adverbial use is required, badly is standard with all verbs: She reacted badly to the criticism. Bad as an adverb appears mainly in informal contexts: I didn't do too bad on the tests. He wants money so bad it hurts. See also badly, good.
bid in, Commerce. to overbid all offers for (property) at an auction in order to retain ownership.
15.
bid up, Commerce. to increase the market price of by increasing bids.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME bidden, OE biddan to beg, ask; c. OFris bidda, OS biddian, OHG bittan (G bitten), ON bithja, Goth bidjan; all < Gmc *bid-ja- (< IE *bhidh-) command, akin to Gk peíthein to persuade, inspire with trust, E bide]
Not achieving an adequate standard; poor: a bad concert.
Evil; sinful.
Vulgar or obscene: bad language.
Informal Disobedient or naughty: bad children.
Disagreeable, unpleasant, or disturbing: a bad piece of news.
Unfavorable: bad reviews for the play.
Not fresh; rotten or spoiled: bad meat.
Injurious in effect; detrimental: bad habits.
Not working properly; defective: a bad telephone connection.
Full of or exhibiting faults or errors: bad grammar.
Having no validity; void: passed bad checks.
Being so far behind in repayment as to be considered a loss: bad loans.
Severe; intense: a bad cold.
Being in poor health or in pain: I feel bad today.
Being in poor condition; diseased: bad lungs.
Sorry; regretful: She feels bad about how she treated you.
bad·der, bad·destSlang Very good; great.
n.
Something that is below standard or expectations, as of ethics or decency: weighing the good against the bad.
adv.
Usage Problem
Badly.
[Middle English badde.]
bad'ness n.
Usage Note: Bad is often used as an adverb in sentences such as The house was shaken up pretty bad or We need water bad. This usage is common in informal speech but is widely regarded as unacceptable in formal writing. In an earlier survey, the sentence His tooth ached so bad he could not sleep was unacceptable to 92 percent of the Usage Panel. · The use of badly with want was once considered incorrect but is now entirely acceptable: We wanted badly to go to the beach. · The adverb badly is often used after verbs such as feel, as in I felt badly about the whole affair. This usage bears analogy to the use of other adverbs with feel, such as strongly in We feel strongly about this issue. Some people prefer to maintain a distinction between feel badly and feel bad, restricting the former to emotional distress and using the latter to cover physical ailments; however, this distinction is not universally observed, so feel badly should be used in a context that makes its meaning clear. · Badly is used in some regions to mean "unwell," as in He was looking badly after the accident.Poorly is also used in this way. In an earlier survey, however, the usage was found unacceptable in formal writing by 75 percent of the Usage Panel.
Our Living Language: Most people might think that the slang usage of bad to mean its opposite, "excellent," is a recent innovation of Black English. While it is of Black English origin, this usage has been recorded for over a century; the first known example dates from 1897. Even earlier, beginning in the 1850s, the word appears in the sense "formidable, very tough," as applied to persons. Whether or not the two usages are related, they both illustrate a favorite creative device of informal and slang language—using a word to mean the opposite of what it "really" means. This is by no means uncommon; people use words sarcastically to mean the opposite of their actual meanings on a daily basis. What is more unusual is for such a usage to be generally accepted within a larger community. Perhaps when the concepts are as basic as "good" and "bad" this general acceptance is made easier. A similar instance is the word uptight, which in the 1960s enjoyed usage in the sense "excellent" alongside its now-current, negative meaning of "stiff."
1203, mystery word, no apparent relatives in other languages. Possibly from two related O.E. derogatory terms: bæddel and bædling "effeminate man, hermaphrodite, pederast." Originally "defective, inferior;" sense of "evil, morally depraved" is first recorded 1300. A rare word before 1400, and evil was more common until 1700. Ironic use as a word of approval is said to be at least since 1890s orally, originally in Black Eng., emerging in print 1928 in a jazz context. Badder, baddest were used as recently as Defoe (18c.), but yielded to comp. worse and superl. worst (taken over from evil, ill), from P.Gmc. *wersizon, comp. of *wers-.
having undesirable or negative qualities; "a bad report card"; "his sloppy appearance made a bad impression"; "a bad little boy"; "clothes in bad shape"; "a bad cut"; "bad luck"; "the news was very bad"; "the reviews were bad"; "the pay is bad"; "it was a bad light for reading"; "the movie was a bad choice" [ant: good]
2.
very intense; "a bad headache"; "in a big rage"; "had a big (or bad) shock"; "a bad earthquake"; "a bad storm"
3.
feeling physical discomfort or pain ('tough' is occasionally used colloquially for 'bad'); "my throat feels bad"; "she felt bad all over"; "he was feeling tough after a restless night"
4.
(of foodstuffs) not in an edible or usable condition; "bad meat"; "a refrigerator full of spoilt food"
5.
feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone; "felt regretful over his vanished youth"; "regretful over mistakes she had made"; "he felt bad about breaking the vase" [syn: regretful] [ant: unregretful]
6.
not capable of being collected; "a bad (or uncollectible) debt"
7.
below average in quality or performance; "a bad chess player"; "a bad recital"
8.
nonstandard; "so-called bad grammar"
9.
not financially safe or secure; "a bad investment"; "high risk investments"; "anything that promises to pay too much can't help being risky"; "speculative business enterprises"
10.
physically unsound or diseased; "has a bad back"; "a bad heart"; "bad teeth"; "an unsound limb"; "unsound teeth"
11.
capable of harming; "bad air"; "smoking is bad for you"
12.
characterized by wickedness or immorality; "led a very bad life"
13.
reproduced fraudulently; "like a bad penny..."; "a forged twenty dollar bill"
14.
not working properly; "a bad telephone connection"; "a defective appliance"
adverb
1.
with great intensity ('bad' is a nonstandard variant for 'badly'); "the injury hurt badly"; "the buildings were badly shaken"; "it hurts bad"; "we need water bad" [syn: badly]
2.
very much; strongly; "I wanted it badly enough to work hard for it"; "the cables had sagged badly"; "they were badly in need of help"; "he wants a bicycle so bad he can taste it" [syn: badly]
noun
1.
that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency; "take the bad with the good" [ant: good]
BAD /B-A-D/ Broken As Designed, a play on "working as designed", from IBM. Failing because of bad design and misfeatures rather than because of bugs. [The Jargon File] (2002-04-14)
Bad Axe, MI (city, FIPS 4740) Location: 43.80281 N, 82.99689 W Population (1990): 3484 (1473 housing units) Area: 4.9 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 48413
Bad\ (b[a^]d), a. [Compar. Worse; superl. Worst. ] [Probably fr. AS. b[ae]ddel hermaphrodite; cf. b[ae]dling effeminate fellow.] Wanting good qualities, whether physical or moral; injurious, hurtful, inconvenient, offensive, painful, unfavorable, or defective, either physically or morally; evil; vicious; wicked; -- the opposite of good; as, a bad man; bad conduct; bad habits; bad soil; bad health; bad crop; bad news. Note: Sometimes used substantively. The strong antipathy of good to bad. --Pope. Syn: Pernicious; deleterious; noxious; baneful; injurious; hurtful; evil; vile; wretched; corrupt; wicked; vicious; imperfect.
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Audio Help [bad] Pronunciation Key adjective, worse, worst; (Slang
