Bad Definition

băd
badder, baddest, bads, worse, worst
adjective
worse, worst
Not achieving an adequate standard; poor.
A bad concert.
American Heritage
Not good; not as it should be.
A bad attitude, a bad deal.
Webster's New World
Immoral or evil.
American Heritage
Defective in quality; below standard; inadequate.
Bad plumbing.
Webster's New World
Vulgar or obscene.
Bad language.
American Heritage
noun
bads
Something that is below standard or expectations, as of ethics or decency.
Weighing the good against the bad.
American Heritage
Anything that is bad; bad quality or state.
Webster's New World
Wickedness.
Webster's New World

(slang) Error, mistake.

Sorry, my bad!
Wiktionary

(countable, uncountable, economics) An item (kind of item) of merchandise with negative value; an unwanted good.

Wiktionary
Antonyms:
adverb
Badly.
Webster's New World

(now colloquial) Badly.

I didn't do too bad in the last exam.
Wiktionary
Synonyms:
verb
Webster's New World
Webster's New World

(archaic) Alternative past tense of bid. See bade.

Wiktionary

(UK, dialect) To shell (a walnut).

Wiktionary
idiom
in bad
  • In trouble or disfavor.
American Heritage
my bad
  • Used to acknowledge that one is at fault.
American Heritage
not half
  • Reasonably good.
American Heritage
that's too bad
  • Used to express sadness or sympathy.
  • Used in response to a protest or complaint to express insistence that the speaker's expectation be met.
American Heritage
go to the bad
  • to become wicked, shiftless, etc.; degenerate
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Bad

Noun

Singular:
bad
Plural:
bads

Adjective

Base Form:
bad
Comparative:
worse
Superlative:
worst

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Bad

Origin of Bad

  • From Middle English bad, badde (“wicked, evil, depraved”), probably a shortening of Old English bæddel (“hermaphrodite”) (cf. English much, wench, from Old English myċel, wenċel), from bædan (“to defile”), from Proto-Germanic *bad- (cf. Old High German pad (“hermaphrodite”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰoidʰ- (cf. Welsh baedd (“wild boar”), Latin foedus (“foul, filthy”), foedō (“to defile, pollute”)).

    From Wiktionary

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

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English badde perhaps from shortening of Old English bæddel hermaphrodite, effeminate or homosexual male

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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

    From Wiktionary

  • Unknown

    From Wiktionary

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