bad
1
[ bad ]
/ bæd /
adjective, worse, worst; (Slang) bad·der, bad·dest for 36.
noun
adverb Informal.
badly: He wanted it bad enough to steal it.
Idioms for bad
Origin of bad
1
1250–1300; Middle English
badde, perhaps akin to Old English
bæddel hermaphrodite,
bædling womanish man
synonym study for bad
2.
Bad,
evil,
ill,
wicked are closest in meaning in reference to that which is lacking in moral qualities or is actually vicious and reprehensible.
Bad is the broadest and simplest term:
a bad man; bad habits.
Evil applies to that which violates or leads to the violation of moral law:
evil practices.
Ill now appears mainly in certain fixed expressions, with a milder implication than that in evil:
ill will; ill-natured.
Wicked implies willful and determined doing of what is very wrong:
a wicked plan.
usage note for bad
The adjective
bad meaning “unpleasant, unattractive, unfavorable, spoiled, etc.,” is the usual form to follow such copulative verbs as
sound, smell, look, and
taste: After the rainstorm the water tasted bad. The coach says the locker room smells bad. After the copulative verb
feel, the adjective
badly in reference to physical or emotional states is also used and is standard, although
bad is more common in formal writing:
I feel bad from overeating. She felt badly about her friend's misfortune.
When the adverbial use is required, badly is standard with all verbs: She reacted badly to the criticism. Bad as an adverb appears mainly in informal contexts: I didn't do too bad on the tests. He wants money so bad it hurts. See also badly, good.
When the adverbial use is required, badly is standard with all verbs: She reacted badly to the criticism. Bad as an adverb appears mainly in informal contexts: I didn't do too bad on the tests. He wants money so bad it hurts. See also badly, good.
OTHER WORDS FROM bad
bad·ness, nounWords nearby bad
baculiform,
baculine,
baculite,
baculum,
bacău,
bad,
bad actor,
bad apple,
bad bank,
bad blood,
bad breath
British Dictionary definitions for not bad (1 of 2)
bad
1
/ (bæd) /
adjective worse or worst
noun
adverb
not standard
badly
to want something bad
Derived forms of bad
baddish, adjective badness, nounWord Origin for bad
C13: probably from
bæd-, as the first element of Old English
bǣddel hermaphrodite,
bǣdling sodomite
British Dictionary definitions for not bad (2 of 2)
Idioms and Phrases with not bad (1 of 2)
not bad
Also, not half bad; not so or too bad; not too shabby. Fairly good, as in Not bad, said the conductor, but we need to play the scherzo again, or The movie wasn't half bad, but Jerry wanted to go home, or Our garden's not too bad this year, or How are things going?—Not too shabby. All of the terms involving bad, which imply that something is less bad than it might be, date from the mid-1700s. The last variant, using shabby in the sense of “inferior,” is slang of the late 1900s.
Idioms and Phrases with not bad (2 of 2)
bad