bad

Abbreviation of English Banda.

bad

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-5 language code for Banda languages.

• IPA^(key): /bæd/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /bæːd/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /bɛd/
• (Wales) IPA^(key): /baːd/
• (æ-tensing, New York City, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore) IPA^(key): /bɛəd/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æd
• Homophone: bade (one pronunciation)

From Middle English bad, badde (“wicked, evil, depraved”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a shortening of Old English bæddel (“hermaphrodite”) (for loss of -el compare Middle English muche from Old English myċel, and Middle English wenche from Old English wenċel), or at least related to it and/or to bǣ̆dan (“to defile”), compare Old High German pad (“hermaphrodite”).

Alternatively, perhaps a loan from Old Norse into Middle English, compare Norwegian bad (“effort, trouble, fear”, neuter noun), East Danish bad (“damage, destruction, fight”, neuter noun), from the Proto-Germanic noun *badą, whence also Proto-Germanic *badōną (“to frighten”), Old Saxon undarbadōn (“to frighten”), Norwegian Nynorsk bada (“to weigh down, press”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰ- (“to bend, press, push, oppress”).^[1]

bad (comparative worse or (nonstandard) badder or (nonstandard) more bad, superlative worst or (nonstandard) baddest or (nonstandard) most bad)

1. Of low quality.

   That movie was really bad!

2. Inaccurate; incorrect

   A bad guess.

   This sentence has bad grammar!

   He speaks bad German!

3. Unfavorable; negative; not good.

   Synonyms: unfavorable, negative; see also Thesaurus:bad

   Hiring practice is very bad in this company.

   The weather looks pretty bad right now.

   You have very bad grades.

   He is in a bad mood.

   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.

4. Not suitable or fitting.

   Synonyms: inappropriate, unfit; see also Thesaurus:unsuitable

   Do you think it is a bad idea to confront him directly?

5. Not appropriate, of manners etc.

   It is bad manners to talk with your mouth full.

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     “ […] if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. […] ”

6. Harmful, especially unhealthy; liable to cause health problems.

   Synonyms: unhealthful, unwholesome; see also Thesaurus:harmful

   Lard is bad for you. Smoking is bad for you, too. Grapes are bad for dogs but not for humans.

7. (chiefly applied to a person's state of health) Sickly, unhealthy, unwell.

   Synonyms: ill, poorly, sickly; see also Thesaurus:ill

   Joe's in a bad way; he can't even get out of bed.

   I went to the hospital to see how my grandfather was doing. Unfortunately, he's in a bad state.

   I've had a bad back since the accident.

8. (often childish) Not behaving; behaving badly; misbehaving; mischievous or disobedient.

   Stop being bad, or you will get a spanking!

   • 2014 August 28, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):

     I can tell that new kid at our daycare is trouble […] He's picking out his favorite corner to stand in when he's bad.

9. Tricky; stressful; unpleasant.

   Synonyms: foul, loathsome; see also Thesaurus:unpleasant

   Divorce is usually a bad experience for everybody involved.

10. (sometimes childish) Evil; wicked.

    Synonyms: vile, vicious; see also Thesaurus:evil

    Be careful. There are bad people in the world.

11. Faulty; not functional.

    Synonyms: inoperative; see also Thesaurus:out of order

    I had a bad headlight.

12. (of food) Spoiled, rotten, overripe.

    Synonyms: rotten; see also Thesaurus:rotten

    These apples have gone bad.

13. (of breath) Malodorous; foul.

    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:malodorous

    Bad breath is not pleasant for anyone.

14. False; counterfeit; illegitimate.

    Synonyms: fake, spurious; see also Thesaurus:fake

    They were caught trying to pass bad coinage.

15. Unskilled; of limited ability; not good.

    Synonyms: bungling, inept; see also Thesaurus:unskilled

    I'm pretty bad at speaking French.

    He's a bad gardener; everything he tries to grow ends up dying.

16. Of poor physical appearance.

    Synonyms: repulsive, unsightly; see also Thesaurus:ugly

    I look really bad whenever I get less than seven hours of sleep.

    I don't look bad in this dress, do I?

    I have such bad skin!

17. (of a need, want, or pain) Severe, urgent.

    Synonyms: dire; see also Thesaurus:urgent

    He is in bad need of a haircut.

    • 1965, Teddy Randazzo, Bobby Weinstein, Bobby Hart, “Hurt So Bad”, in Hurt So Bad, performed by The Lettermen:

      Oh let me tell you that it / Hurts so bad / It makes me feel so sad / You make it hurt so bad / To see you again.

18. (preceded by feel) Regretful, guilty, or ashamed.

    I feel so bad for betraying him!

19. (of a word, speech, or writing) Vulgar, obscene, or blasphemous.

    Don't you dare speak to me with that bad language!

20. Not worth it.

    The expensive purse was a bad buy.

bad (not comparable)

1. (informal, of a draft/check) Not covered by funds on account.

   Synonyms: rubber, hot

   He gave me a bad check.

bad (comparative badder or more bad, superlative baddest or most bad) (slang)

1. Bold, daring, and tough.

   Synonyms: (slang) badass; see also Thesaurus:brave

   He's the baddest guy in town!

3. Good, superlative, excellent, cool.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:good

   Man, that new car you bought is bad!

   You is bad, man!

   • 1986, Darryl McDaniels, Joseph Simmons, “Peter Piper”, in Raising Hell, performed by Run-DMC:

     He's the big bad wolf in your neighborhood / not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good

   • 1994, “Best Ever” (track 7), in N2Deep (lyrics), 24-7-365:

     Man, that bitch was bad—it was the best piece of pussy that I ever had.

4. (US) Overly promiscuous, licentious.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:promiscuous

   • 2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown‎^[3], performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG:

     You leave your girl around me; if she's bad she's gonna get stuck.

5. (originally African-American Vernacular, of a woman) Very attractive; hot, sexy.

   Hopefully I can pull some bad bitches tonight.

6. (Internet slang, sarcastic) Used without a copula to mock people who oppose something without having any real understanding of it.

   Orange Man bad

   • 2020 October 7, @morkitten, Twitter‎^[4], archived from the original on 3 April 2024:

     "don't buy chinese games because china bad!!" folks I have good news about a little country called the United States of America

   • 2020 October 11, u/EarthToAccess, “Sad moment right here”, in Reddit‎^[5], r/redditmoment, archived from the original on 3 April 2024:

     fake reddit moment, he's on tiktok and we all know tiktok bad 😤😤😤

   • 2023 January 24, u/ThunderEagle222, “"NATO doesn't win because it has better technology! They only win because their technology is better!"”, in Reddit‎^[6], r/NonCredibleDefense, archived from the original on 3 April 2024:

     These kind of people only hate the Iraq invasion cuz "USA bad". Not because they truly care about Iraqi's.

   • 2023 March 21, @SpectrVolcarona, Twitter‎^[7], archived from the original on 3 April 2024:

     -now everyone says it was "never good" because "popular thing bad" and now you're not allowed to like it anymore because it is now against the unspoken social rules thats fucking so great I hate that this happens to everything I like

   • 2023 November 28, u/zeptillian, “This super popular disposable vape device is basically just a tampon soaked in nicotine juice that gets zapped by a small battery to produce vapor.”, in Reddit‎^[8], r/mildlyinteresting, archived from the original on 3 April 2024:

     Ok well since it's been a thing for like 1.5 decades now, do you think you could give us a clue? ¶ FDA. Nope. Vape bad. You figure it out yourself.

7. (chiefly in "bad boy", "bad girl", and similar phrases) Attractive due to (one's) rebellious nature.

   That boy is the baddest!

   She's the baddest girl!

bad (comparative worse, superlative worst)

1. (now colloquial) Badly; poorly.

   I didn't do too bad in the last exam.

   He is quite bad off now that both his parents lost their jobs.

2. (intensifier) Badly; severely, extremely, passionately, eagerly.
   • 1969, Lennon–McCartney, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, in Abbey Road, performed by The Beatles:

     I want you / I want you so bad, it's driving me mad

When placed after the main verb, use of bad as an intensifier is often more accepted than badly. Compare:

 I bad need to eat.  I badly need to eat.

 I need bad to eat.  I need badly to eat.

 I need to eat bad.  I need to eat badly.

It is also common in certain set expressions, such as bad off, which may be perceived as an extended form of the adjective bad rather than the adverb bad ~ badly modifying the adjective off.

bad (plural bads)

1. Something that is bad; a harm or evil.
   • 2001, Ann Belford Ulanov, Finding Space: Winnicott, God, and Psychic Reality, page 59:

     We idealize God as supergoodness in order to protect against a bad that we cannot unite with ourselves.

2. (slang, with possessive determiner) Error; mistake.
   • 1993, Mitch Albom, Fab five: basketball, trash talk, the American dream‎^[9]:

     "My bad, My bad!” Juwan yelled, scowling

   • 2003, Zane, Skyscraper, page 7:

     “Chico, you're late again.” I turned around and stared him in his beady eyes. “I missed my bus. My bad, Donald.” “Your bad? Your bad? What kind of English is that?

   • 2008, Camika Spencer, Cubicles, page 68:

     Teresa broke out in laughter. “Dang, I sound like I'm talking to my man.” “I tried your cell phone, but you didn't answer.” “I left it at home, Friday. My bad.” “Yeah, your bad.” I laughed. “Really, I'm sorry. It won't happen again.

3. (countable, uncountable, economics) An item (or kind of item) of merchandise with negative value; an unwanted good.
   • 2011, Henry Thompson, International Economics: Global Markets and Competition, 3rd edition, World Scientific, page 97:

     Imports are an economic good but exports an economic bad. Exports must be produced but are enjoyed by foreign consumers.

   • 2011, William J. Boyes, Michael Melvin, Economics, 9th edition, Cengage Learning, page 4:

     An economic bad is anything that you would pay to get rid of. It is not so hard to think of examples of bads: pollution, garbage, and disease fit the description.

bad

1. Used to scold a misbehaving child or pet.

   Bad! You know you're not allowed in the kitchen after dinner.

From Middle English bad, from Old English bæd, first- and third-person singular indicative past tense of biddan (“to ask”).

bad

1. (archaic) alternative past of bid. See bade.

Unknown.

bad (third-person singular simple present bads, present participle badding, simple past and past participle badded)

1. (British, dialect, transitive) To shell (a walnut).
   • 1876, The Gloucester Journal, Oct. 7, 1876, reported in A. Gregory, “Gloucestershire Dialect,” Notes and Queries, 5th ser., 6, 148 (1876‑10‑28): 346

     A curious specimen of Gloucestershire dialect came out in an assault case heard by the Gloucester court magistrates on Saturday. One of the witnesses, speaking of what a girl was doing at the time the assault took place, said she was ‘badding’ walnuts in a pigstye. The word is peculiarly provincial: to ‘bad’ walnuts is to strip away the husk. The walnut, too, is often called a ‘bannut,’ and hence the old Gloucestershire phrase, ‘Come an’ bad the bannuts.’

• ABD, ADB, Abd., BDA, D.B.A., DAB, DBA, abd., d/b/a, dab, dba

From Proto-Cushitic. Cognates include Somali bád and Saho bad.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbad/ [ˈbʌd]
• Hyphenation: bad

bád m (plural badoodá f)

1. lake, sea, ocean

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “bad”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2004) Parlons Afar: Langue et Culture, L'Hammartan, →ISBN, page 35

From Dutch bad, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *baþą. The plural baddens was probably formed by analogy with beddens (“beds”). The expected form would have been *baaie, which is already the plural of baai (“bay”). Compare phonetically pad > paaie.

• IPA^(key): [bɑt]

• Audio:

  (file)

bad (plural baddens, diminutive badjie)

1. bath

• baai

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

From Old Norse bað, Proto-Germanic *baþą (“bath”), cognate with English bath and German Bad.

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥að]
• Rhymes: -ad

bad n (singular definite badet, plural indefinite bade)

1. bath, shower, swim
2. bathroom

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥æˀð], [ˈb̥æðˀ]

bad

1. past of bede

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥æˀð], [ˈb̥æðˀ]

bad

1. imperative of bade

• IPA^(key): /bɑt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bad
• Rhymes: -ɑt
• Homophone: Bath

From Middle Dutch bat, from Old Dutch *bath, from Proto-West Germanic *baþ, from Proto-Germanic *baþą.

bad n (plural baden, diminutive badje n)

1. bath (object)
2. the act or process of bathing
3. immersion

• baden

• Afrikaans: bad
• Negerhollands: bad, bat
• →? Sranan Tongo: bat

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

bad

1. singular past indicative of bidden

bad

1. romanization of 𐌱𐌰𐌳

From Classical Persian باد (bād, “wind”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈbat̚/

bad (plural bad-bad)

1. (archaic) wind

   Synonym: angin

• “bad” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• IPA^(key): /baːt/

bad

1. and, with
   • 1891, “Nongbishar 2:3”, in Ka Baibl (Khasi Bible):

     Bad ki blei jong ki kin long jingriam ïa phi.

     And their gods shall be a snare unto you.

bad

1. father

• IPA^(key): /baːt/

bad (imperfect jbid, past participle mibjud, verbal noun bidien)

1. alternative form of bied

• bade (Mooring)
• ber (Sylt)

From Proto-Germanic *bidjaną.

• (Föhr-Amrum) IPA^(key): [bad]

bad

1. (Föhr-Amrum) to ask politely, to beg, request

From Old Norse bað, from Proto-Germanic *baþą (“bath”).

bad n (definite singular badet, indefinite plural bad, definite plural bada or badene)

1. a bath

   et varmt bad - a hot bath

2. a bathroom (see also baderom)

• blodbad
• boblebad

• bade

• ba (of be)

bad

1. imperative of bade
2. simple past of be
3. simple past of bede

• “bad” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse bað.

• IPA^(key): /bɑːd/

bad n (definite singular badet, indefinite plural bad, definite plural bada)

1. a bath

   eit varmt bad - a hot bath

2. a bathroom

• (bathroom): baderom

• blodbad
• boblebad

• IPA^(key): /bɑː/

bad

1. past of be

• “bad” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /bɑːd/

From Proto-West Germanic *baidu, from Proto-Germanic *baidō.

bād f

1. waiting; expectation
2. something distrained; pledge, stake

Strong ō-stem:

• *ābād
• nīedbād

• ābīdan
• bīdan

• Middle English: bade, bode, baide
  • English: bode
  • Scots: bade, baid

bād

1. first/third-person singular preterite of bīdan

• bed

• IPA^(key): /bað/

bad

1. inflection of is:
   1. third-person singular past subjunctive
   2. third-person singular/second-person plural imperative

From Pre-Palauan *baðu, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *batu, from Proto-Austronesian *batu. Cognate with Kavalan btu,Tagalog bato, Malay batu, Maori whatu.

• IPA^(key): /bað/

bad

1. stone; rock

Borrowed from German Bad.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbat/
• Rhymes: -at
• Syllabification: bad
• Homophone: bat

bad m inan

1. (dated) health resort (resort, such as a spa, providing services designed to improve people's health)

   Synonyms: kurort, uzdrowisko, zdrojowisko

   Hyponym: spa

• bad in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Ultimately from Arabic بَطّ (baṭṭ).

• (Ili, Xinjiang, Xunhua, Qinghai) IPA^(key): /pɑt/, /pɑd/

bad

1. duck

• Potanin, G.N. (1893) “пат”, in Тангутско-Тибетская окраина Китая и Центральная Монголия (in Russian), page 431
• Yanchuk, Mikola Andriyovich (1893) “бад”, in Этнографическое ОбозрѢніе: Императорскаго Общества Любителей Естествознанія, Антропологіи и Этнографіи [Ethnographical Review: Imperial Society of Lovers of Natural History, Anthropology and Ethnography]‎^[10] (in Russian), Moscow: Publication of the Ethnographic Department, page 13
• Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “bad”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow, page 439
• 林莲云 [Lin Lianyun] (1985) “bad”, in 撒拉语简志 [A Brief History of Salar]‎^[11], Beijing: 民族出版社: 琴書店, →OCLC, page 121
• Yakup, Abdurishid (2002) “bad”, in An Ili Salar Vocabulary: Introduction and a Provisional Salar-English Lexicon‎^[12], Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBN, page 52
• Ma, Chengjun, Han, Lianye, Ma, Weisheng (December 2010) “bad”, in 米娜瓦尔 艾比布拉 (Minavar Abibra), editor, 撒维汉词典 (Sāwéihàncídiǎn) [Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 30
• 马伟 (Ma Wei), 朝克 (Chao Ke) (2016) “bad”, in 濒危语言——撒拉语研究 [Endangered Languages ​​- Salar Language Studies], 青海 (Qinghai): 国家社会科学基金项目 (National Social Science Foundation Project), page 264

Probably borrowed from Pictish [Term?]. Compare Breton bod (“cluster, bunch of grapes, thicket”).

• IPA^(key): /b̥at̪/^[1]

bad m (genitive singular baid, plural badan)

1. place, spot
2. tuft, bunch
3. flock, group
4. thicket, clump (of trees)

• (place): spot

• anns a' bhad
• reul-bhad

From Proto-Somaloid *bez-, from Eastern Cushitic *baz- ("lake"). Perhaps a Wanderwort, compare Proto-Nilotic *bas- (“lake”), Wolaytta bazzoi (“desert”).

Cognate with Rendille bey, Daasanach bas, El Molo paw, Oromo baddaa (“highland”), Afar bad, Gawwada paso.

• IPA^(key): /bad̪/

bad f (plural bado m)

1. sea

• De Larajasse, E. (1897). Somali-English and English-Somali dictionary (p. 14). BAB-BAH.
• Puglielli, A., & Mansuur, C. C. (2012). Qaamuuska Af‒Soomaaliga (in Somali) Roma: Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente. (p. 53)

bad

1. romanization of 𒁁 (bad)

From Old Swedish badh, from Old Norse bað, from Proto-Germanic *baþą, from the zero-grade of Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₁-.

• IPA^(key): /bɑːd/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːd

bad n

1. bathing; swimming (see the usage notes for bada, which also apply here)

   Synonym: badande

2. a bath; a swim (instance of taking a bath or going for a swim)

   ta (sig) ett bad

   take [oneself] a bath

3. a bath (place suitable for bathing, like a badplats or badhus)

   Det nya badet öppnar på onsdag

   The new bathhouse [for example] opens on Wednesday

4. a bath (liquid for bathing in)

   tappa upp ett varmt bad

   draw/run a hot bath

See the usage notes for bada.

• bada

bad

1. past indicative of be
2. past indicative of bedja

• bad in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bad in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• bad in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

bad (nominative plural bads)

1. evil, badness

• badik
• badiko

• IPA^(key): /baːd/
• Rhymes: -aːd

From Old English bāt.

bad m (plural badau)

1. boat

   Synonyms: cwch, llong

From Proto-Celtic *batos (“death, pestilence”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷh₂-tó-s, from *gʷeh₂- (“to step, go”), with semantic shift "to go" > "to pass away" > "death".

bad f (uncountable)

1. plague, pestilence

   Synonyms: pla, haint

• y fad fawr (“the Great Plague”)