Skip to content

bad

/bæd/noun, adjective, adverb1 syllable

Bad means: having undesirable or negative qualities.

Synonyms for bad68

noun, as in that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency

badness

adjective, as in having undesirable or negative qualities

atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakable, corked, corky, deplorable, distressing, lamentable, pitiful, sad
and 10 more, sorry, fearful, frightful, hard, tough, hopeless, horrid, icky, crappy, lousy

adjective, as in feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone

regretful, sorry, penitent, repentant

adjective, as in not financially safe or secure

risky, high-risk, speculative, unsound

adjective, as in (of foodstuffs) not in an edible or usable condition

spoiled, spoilt, stale

adjective, as in physically unsound or diseased

unfit, unsound, unhealthy

adjective, as in reproduced fraudulently

forged, counterfeit, imitative

adjective, as in not working properly

defective, malfunctioning, nonfunctional

adjective, as in serious or severe

adjective, as in feeling physical discomfort or pain (‘tough’ is occasionally used colloquially for ‘bad’)

adjective, as in not capable of being collected

uncollectible, invalid

adjective, as in below average in quality or performance

adjective, as in nonstandard

nonstandard

adjective, as in capable of harming

adjective, as in characterized by wickedness or immorality

adverb, as in with great intensity (‘bad’ is a nonstandard variant for ‘badly’)

adverb, as in very much; strongly

also used for bad

cruddy, shoddy, ass, base, below par, bottom-shelf, BTEC, bum, unfavorable, negative, inappropriate, discommensurate, improper, malapropos, inapt

Includes material from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Opposites of bad

What does bad mean?17

adjective

1

having undesirable or negative qualities“a bad report card”

2

feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone“felt regretful over his vanished youth”

3

not financially safe or secure“a bad investment”

4

(of foodstuffs) not in an edible or usable condition“bad meat”

5

physically unsound or diseased“has a bad back”

6

reproduced fraudulently“like a bad penny …”

7

not working properly“a bad telephone connection”

8

serious or severe“a bad headache”

9

feeling physical discomfort or pain (‘tough’ is occasionally used colloquially for ‘bad’)“my throat feels bad”

10

not capable of being collected“a bad (or uncollectible) debt”

11

below average in quality or performance“a bad chess player”

12

nonstandard“so-called bad grammar”

13

capable of harming“bad air”

14

characterized by wickedness or immorality“led a very bad life”

noun

1

that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency“take the bad with the good”

adverb

1

with great intensity (‘bad’ is a nonstandard variant for ‘badly’)“the injury hurt badly”

2

very much; strongly“I wanted it badly enough to work hard for it”

Definitions from the Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

What rhymes with bad?18

Show 40 near rhymes

Bad in a sentence

  • Due to bad weather, the plane was late.Eldad
  • Due to the bad weather, the plane was ten minutes late.CM
  • Thanks to the bad weather, the game was canceled.CM
  • What with the rain and a bad hotel, we didn't enjoy our holiday much.frpzzd
  • Bad as it was, it could have been worse.CC
  • A bad habit, once formed, cannot easily be got rid of.pyrachi
  • I had a bad cold, and to make matters worse, it began snowing.CK
  • A bad habit, once formed, is difficult to get rid of.CK

Sentences from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR, credited to their authors.

Forms of bad

as a noun

plural
bads

as a adjective

comparative
worse
superlative
worst

as a adverb

comparative
worse
superlative
worst