bad

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Of poor quality, or not good in some way.

   He got a bad report card this term.

2. 2
   adj

   Morally wrong or wicked.

   In the story, the bad king treated his people cruelly.

3. 3
   adj

   Not working properly; faulty.

   We couldn't hear each other because of the bad phone connection.

4. 4
   adj

   No longer fresh or safe to eat.

   Throw out the milk if it has gone bad.

5. 5
   adj

   Causing pain or feeling unwell.

   She has a bad back and can't lift heavy things.

Common collocations

• bad dream Adjective + noun
• bad guy Adjective + noun
• bad luck Adjective + noun
• bad smell Adjective + noun
• bad joke Adjective + noun
• not bad Adverb + adjective

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…

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images