bad definition

Translingual bad definition

Symbol

bad

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

English bad definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bæd/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /bæːd/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /bɛd/
• (Wales) IPA^(key): /baːd/
• (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): /bɛəd/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

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

Etymology 1

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”)^[1].

Adjective

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

1. Unfavorable; negative; not good.

   Synonyms: unfavorable, negative; see also Thesaurus:bad

   Hiring you was very bad for this company.

   The weather looks pretty bad right now.

   He is in a bad mood.

   You have very bad grades.

   • 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.

2. Not suitable or fitting.

   Synonyms: inappropriate, unfit; see also Thesaurus:unsuitable

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

3. Not appropriate, of manners etc.

   It is bad manners to talk with your mouth full.

   • 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. […] ”

4. 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.

5. (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.

6. (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.

7. Tricky; stressful; unpleasant.

   Synonyms: foul, loathsome; see also Thesaurus:unpleasant

   Divorce is usually a bad experience for everybody involved.

8. (sometimes childish) Evil; wicked.

   Synonyms: vile, vicious; see also Thesaurus:evil

   Be careful. There are bad people in the world.

9. Faulty; not functional.

   Synonyms: inoperative; see also Thesaurus:out of order

   I had a bad headlight.

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

    Synonyms: rotten; see also Thesaurus:rotten

    These apples have gone bad.

11. (of breath) Malodorous; foul.

    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:malodorous

    Bad breath is not pleasant for anyone.

12. False; counterfeit; illegitimate.

    Synonyms: fake, spurious; see also Thesaurus:fake

    They were caught trying to pass bad coinage.

13. 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.

14. 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?

15. (informal) Bold and daring.

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

17. (slang) 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 (lyrics and music), “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.

18. (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 (lyrics and music), “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.

19. (US, slang) 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^[1], 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.

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

    Hopefully I can pull some bad bitches tonight.

21. (slang, of a draft/check) Not covered by funds on account.

    Synonyms: rubber, hot

    He gave me a bad check.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Adverb

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.
   • 1969, Lennon–McCartney (lyrics and music), “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

Usage notes

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.

Translations

Noun

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^[2]:

     "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.

Translations

Interjection

bad

1. Used to scold a misbehaving child or pet.

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

Translations

References

Etymology 2

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

Verb

bad

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

Etymology 3

Unknown

Verb

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

1. (Britain, 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.’

Anagrams

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

Afar bad definition

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

bád m (plural badoodá f)

1. lake, sea, ocean

Declension

Declension of bád
absolutive	bád
predicative	báda
subjective	bád
genitive	baddí
Postpositioned forms l-case bádal k-case bádak t-case bádat h-case bádah

Derived terms

References

• 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

Afrikaans bad definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [bɑt]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

bad (plural baddens, diminutive badjie)

1. bath

Related terms

• baaie

References

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

Danish bad definition

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥að]
• Rhymes: -ad

Noun

bad n (singular definite badet, plural indefinite bade)

1. bath, shower, swim
2. bathroom

Inflection

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥æˀð], [ˈb̥æðˀ]

Verb

bad

1. past of bede

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥æˀð], [ˈb̥æðˀ]

Verb

bad

1. imperative of bade

Dutch bad definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑt/

• audio

  (file)

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

Etymology 1

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

Noun

bad n (plural baden, diminutive badje n)

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

Derived terms

Related terms

• baden

Descendants

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

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

bad

1. singular past indicative of bidden

Gothic bad definition

Romanization

bad

1. Romanization of 𐌱𐌰𐌳

Indonesian bad definition

Etymology

From Persian باد‎ (bâd, “wind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbat̚/

Noun

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

1. (archaic) wind

   Synonym: angin

Related terms

Further reading

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

Khasi bad definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baːt/

Conjunction

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.

Lushootseed bad definition

Noun

bad

1. father

Maltese bad definition

Root
b-j-d
17 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baːt/

Verb

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

1. Alternative form of bied

Conjugation

Conjugation of bad
		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	b{{{4}}}dt	b{{{4}}}dt	bad		b{{{4}}}dna	b{{{4}}}dtu	badu
	f			badet
imperfect	m	nbid	tbid	jbid		nbidu	tbidu	jbidu
	f			tbid
imperative			bid				bidu

Norwegian Bokmål bad definition

Etymology 1

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

Noun

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)

Derived terms

• blodbad
• boblebad

Related terms

• bade

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• (of be) ba

Verb

bad

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

References

• “bad” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk bad definition

Etymology 1

From Old Norse bað.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑːd/

Noun

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

1. a bath

   eit varmt bad - a hot bath

2. a bathroom

Synonyms

• (bathroom): baderom

Derived terms

• blodbad
• boblebad

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑː/

Verb

bad

1. past of be

References

• “bad” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English bad definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑːd/

Etymology 1

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

Noun

bād f

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

Declension

Derived terms

• *ābād
• nīedbād

Related terms

• ābīdan
• bīdan

Descendants

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

Etymology 2

Verb

bād

1. first/third-person singular preterite of bīdan

Old Irish bad definition

Alternative forms

• bed

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bað/

Verb

bad

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

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
bad	bad pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/	mbad
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Palauan bad definition

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bað/

Noun

bad

1. stone; rock

Polish bad definition

Etymology

Borrowed from German Bad, from Middle High German, from Old High German bad, from Proto-West Germanic *baþ, from Proto-Germanic *baþą. English bath.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

bad m inan

1. (dated) health resort

   Synonym: kurort

Declension

Further reading

• bad in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bad in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Scottish Gaelic bad definition

Etymology

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

Noun

bad m (genitive singular baid, plural badan)

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

Synonyms

• (place): spot

Derived terms

• anns a' bhad
• reul-bhad

Somali bad definition

Noun

bad ?

1. sea

Sumerian bad definition

Romanization

bad

1. Romanization of 𒁁 (bad)

Swedish bad definition

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑːd/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːd

Noun

bad n

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

Declension

Declension of bad
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	bad	badet	bad	baden
Genitive	bads	badets	bads	badens

Related terms

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

Verb

bad

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

References

• bad in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Volapük bad definition

Noun

bad (nominative plural bads)

1. evil, badness

Declension

See also

• badik
• badiko

Welsh bad definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baːd/
• Rhymes: -aːd

Etymology 1

From Old English bāt.

Noun

bad m (plural badau)

1. boat

   Synonyms: cwch, llong

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Noun

bad f (uncountable)

1. plague, pestilence

   Synonyms: pla, haint

Derived terms

• y fad fawr (“the Great Plague”)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
bad	fad	mad	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.