bad

• IPA^(key): /bæd/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /bæːd/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /bɛd/
• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /bɛʔ/

• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -æd

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), from bædan (“to defile”), from Proto-Germanic *bad- (compare Old High German pad (“hermaphrodite”)). Alternatively, 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 *bada- (Kroonen, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, s.v. *badōjan-).

bad (comparative worse, superlative worst)

1. Unfavorable; negative; not good.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     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.

   You have bad credit.

   The weather looks pretty bad right now.

   Don't talk to him; he's in a bad mood.

2. Not suitable or fitting.

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

3. Not appropriate, of manners etc.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     “ […] 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. […] ”

   It is bad manners to talk with your mouth full.

4. Unhealthy; liable to cause health problems.

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

5. Sickly, unhealthy, unwell.

   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.

6. Tricky; stressful; unpleasant.

   Divorce is usually a bad experience for everybody involved.

7. Evil; wicked.

   Be careful. There are bad people in the world.

8. Faulty; not functional.

   I had a bad headlight.

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

   These apples have gone bad.

10. (of breath) Malodorous; foul.

    Bad breath is not pleasant for anyone.

11. False; counterfeit; illegitimate.

    They were caught trying to pass bad coinage.

12. Unskilled; of limited ability; not good.

    I'm pretty bad at speaking French.

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

13. Of poor physical appearance.

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

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

14. (informal) Bold and daring.
15. (hip-hop slang) Good; superlative.
    • 1986, Run-D.M.C., "Peter Piper" (written by Darryl McDaniels and Joseph Simmons)

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

16. (of a need or want) Severe, urgent.

    He is in bad need of a haircut.

17. (US, slang) Overly promiscuous, licentious.
    • 2005, Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, and Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), “Stay Fly”, in Most Known Unknown‎, Sony BMG, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG):

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

The comparative badder and superlative baddest are nonstandard.

• (not good): unfavorable, negative; see also Thesaurus:bad
• (not suitable or fitting): inappropriate, unfit; see also Thesaurus:unsuitable
• (not appropriate, of manners etc.):
• (liable to cause health problems): unhealthful, unwholesome; see also Thesaurus:harmful
• (unhealthy; unwell): ill, poorly, sickly; see also Thesaurus:ill
• (tricky; stressful; unpleasant): foul, loathsome; see also Thesaurus:unpleasant
• (evil; wicked): wicked, evil, vile, vicious; see also Thesaurus:evil
• (not functional): faulty, inoperative; see also Thesaurus:out of order
• (of food): rotten; see also Thesaurus:rotten
• (of breath): malodorous, foul; see also Thesaurus:malodorous
• (false; counterfeit): false, spurious; see also Thesaurus:fake
• (of limited ability): bungling, inept; see also Thesaurus:unskilled
• (of poor physical appearance): repulsive, unsightly; see also Thesaurus:ugly
• (bold, daring): badass; see also Thesaurus:brave
• (good): see also Thesaurus:good
• (of a need or want): dire, severe, urgent; see also Thesaurus:urgent
• (overly promiscuous): see also Thesaurus:promiscuous

bad (comparative worse, superlative worst)

1. (now colloquial) Badly.

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

bad (uncountable)

1. (slang) Error, mistake.

   Sorry, my bad!

   • 1993, Mitch Albom, Fab five: basketball, trash talk, the American dream‎, page days:

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

     boy

   • 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.

1. (countable, uncountable, economics) An item (or kind of item) of merchandise with negative value; an unwanted good.
   • 2011, Thompson, Henry, 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.

Probably identical to bad, etymology 1, above, especially in the sense "bold, daring".

bad (comparative badder, superlative baddest)

1. (Should we move⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (slang) Fantastic.

   You is ^[sic] bad, man!

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 tense of bid. See bade.

Unknown

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

1. (Britain, dialectal, transitive) To shell (a walnut).
   • 1876, The Gloucester Journal, Oct. 7, 1876, reported in William John Thomas, Doran (John), Henry Frederick Turle, Joseph Knight, Vernon Horace Rendall, Florence Hayllar, Notes and Queries, page 346

     A curious specimen of Gloucestershire dialect c»me 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 » '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

• IPA^(key): [bɑt]

bad (plural [please provide])

1. bath

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

From Old Norse bað.

• IPA^(key): /bad/, [bað]
• Rhymes: -ad

bad n (singular definite badet, plural indefinite bade)

1. bath, shower, swim
2. bathroom

See bede (“to pray, request”).

• IPA^(key): /baːd/, [bæːˀð]

bad

1. past tense of bede

See bade (“to bathe, bath”).

• IPA^(key): /baːd/, [bæðˀ]

bad

1. imperative of bade

• IPA^(key): /bɑt/

• audio

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• Hyphenation: bad
• Rhymes: -ɑt

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

bad n (plural baden, diminutive badje n)

1. bath

• baden

• Afrikaans: bad

See the etymology of the main entry.

bad

1. singular past indicative of bidden

bad

1. Romanization of 𐌱𐌰𐌳

From Persian باد‎ (bâd, “wind”).

bad (plural bad-bad, first-person possessive badku, second-person possessive badmu, third-person possessive badnya)

1. (archaic) wind

   Synonym: angin

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

• (of be) ba

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 tense of be

• “bad” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /bɑːd/

bād

1. first-person singular preterite of bīdan
2. 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 and second-person plural imperative

From German Bad.

• IPA^(key): /bat/

bad m inan

1. (obsolete) health resort, bath

• kurort

• bad in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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

• audio

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bad n

1. a bath, the act of bathing
2. a bath, a place for bathing (badplats, badhus)

• bada
• havsbad
• kallbad
• karbad
• varmbad
• vinterbad
• ångbad

bad

1. past tense of be.
2. past tense of bedja.

• bad in Svenska Akademiens ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)

bad (plural bads)

1. evil, badness

• badik
• badiko

From Old English bāt.

bad m (plural badau)

1. boat

   Synonyms: cwch, llong

• bad achub (“lifeboat”)

bad f (uncountable)

1. plague, pestilence

   Synonyms: pla, haint

• y fad fawr (“the Great Plague”)