badness
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bad 1
(băd)adj. worse (wûrs), worst (wûrst)
1. Not achieving an adequate standard; poor: a bad concert.
2. Immoral or evil.
3. Vulgar or obscene: bad language.
4. Disobedient or naughty: bad children.
5. Disagreeable, unpleasant, or disturbing: a bad piece of news.
6. Unfavorable: bad reviews for the play.
7. Not fresh; rotten or spoiled: bad meat.
8. Injurious in effect; detrimental: bad habits.
9. Not working properly; defective: a bad telephone connection.
10. Full of or exhibiting faults or errors: bad grammar.
11. Having no validity; void: passed bad checks.
12. Being so far behind in repayment as to be considered a loss: bad loans.
13. Severe; intense: a bad cold.
14.
a. Being in poor health or in pain: I feel bad today.
b. Being in poor condition; diseased: bad lungs.
15. Sorry; regretful: She feels bad about how she treated you.
16. bad·der, bad·dest Slang Very good; great.
n.
Something that is below standard or expectations, as of ethics or decency: weighing the good against the bad.
adv. Usage Problem
Idioms: Badly.
in bad Informal
In trouble or disfavor.
my bad Slang
Used to acknowledge that one is at fault.
not half/so bad Informal
Reasonably good.
that's too bad
1. Used to express sadness or sympathy.
2. Used in response to a protest or complaint to express insistence that the speaker's expectation be met.
[Middle English badde, perhaps from shortening of Old English bæddel, hermaphrodite, effeminate or homosexual male.]
bad′ness n.
Usage Note: Bad is often used as an adverb in sentences such as His tooth ached so bad he could not sleep. This usage is common in informal speech but is widely regarded as unacceptable in formal writing. In our 2009 survey, 72 percent of the Usage Panel rejected the sentence just quoted. · The use of badly with want and need was once considered incorrect, since in these cases it means "very much" rather than "in an inferior manner or condition" or "immorally." But this use is widespread, even in formal contexts, and is now considered standard. · The adverb badly is often used after verbs such as feel, as in I felt badly about the whole affair. This usage bears analogy to the use of other adverbs with feel, such as strongly in We feel strongly about this issue. Some people prefer to maintain a distinction between feel badly and feel bad, restricting the former to emotional distress and using the latter to cover physical ailments; however, this distinction is not universally observed, so feel badly should be used in a context that makes its meaning clear. · Badly is used in some regions to mean "unwell," as in He was looking badly after the accident. Poorly is also used in this way. · Note that badly is required following look when it modifies another word or phrase in the predicate, as in The motorcycle looked badly in need of repair.
Our Living Language Many people might have the impression that the slang usage of bad to mean its opposite, "excellent," is a recent innovation of African American Vernacular English. While the usage is of African American origin and parallels to it are found in language use throughout the Caribbean, the "good" use of bad has been recorded for over a century. The first known example dates from 1897. Even earlier, beginning in the 1850s, the word appears in the sense "formidable, very tough," as applied to persons. Whether or not the two usages are related, they both illustrate a favorite creative device of informal and slang language—using a word to mean the opposite of what it "really" means. This is by no means uncommon; people use words sarcastically to mean the opposite of their actual meanings on a daily basis. What is more unusual is for such a usage to be generally accepted within a larger community. Perhaps when the concepts are as basic as "good" and "bad" this general acceptance is made easier. A similar instance is the word uptight, which in the 1960s enjoyed usage in the sense "excellent" alongside its now-current, negative meaning of "tense."
bad 2
(băd)v. Archaic
A past tense of bid.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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| Noun | 1. |  badness - that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency; "take the bad with the good"quality - an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; "the quality of mercy is not strained"--Shakespeare unworthiness - the quality or state of lacking merit or value undesirability - the quality possessed by something that should be avoided worse - something inferior in quality or condition or effect; "for better or for worse"; "accused of cheating and lying and worse" evil - that which causes harm or destruction or misfortune; "the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones"- Shakespeare unsoundness - not mentally or physically healthy; "no one can be a poet without a certain unsoundness of mind" liability - the quality of being something that holds you back inadvisability - the quality of being ill-advised |
| 2. |  badness - used of the degree of something undesirable e.g. pain or weatherintensiveness, intensity - high level or degree; the property of being intense raininess, foulness - (of weather) the badness of the weather; "they were wearied with the foulness of the weather" distressfulness, seriousness - the quality of arousing fear or distress; "he learned the seriousness of his illness" | |
| 3. |  badness - an attribute of mischievous childrendisobedience - the trait of being unwilling to obey |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
badness
noun wickedness, wrong, evil, corruption, sin, impropriety, immorality, villainy, naughtiness, sinfulness, foulness, baseness, rottenness, vileness, shamefulness They only recognize badness when they perceive it in others.
good, virtue, excellence, goodness, morality, righteousness, rectitude, uprightness
good, virtue, excellence, goodness, morality, righteousness, rectitude, uprightness
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
badness
nounThe American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
سوءٌ
špatná kvalitazkaženost
ondskab
rosszaság
illska, vonska
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
badness
[ˈbædnɪs] n [person] → méchanceté fbad-tempered [ˌbædˈtɛmpərd] adjto be bad-tempered (by nature) → avoir mauvais caractère
He's a really bad-tempered person → Il a vraiment mauvais caractère.; (in a bad mood) → être de mauvaise humeur
He was really bad-tempered yesterday → Il était vraiment de mauvaise humeur hier.
to become bad-tempered → devenir irritable
When his headaches developed Nick became bad-tempered → Quand il avait mal à la tête, Nick devenait irritable.
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
badness
n no pl
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
bad
(bӕd) – comparative worse (wəːs) : superlative worst (wəːst) – adjective1. not good; not efficient. He is a bad driver; His eyesight is bad; They are bad at tennis (= they play tennis badly).
2. wicked; immoral. a bad man; He has done some bad things.
3. unpleasant. bad news.
4. rotten. This meat is bad.
5. causing harm or injury. Smoking is bad for your health.
6. (of a part of the body) painful, or in a weak state. She has a bad heart; I have a bad head (= headache) today.
7. unwell. I am feeling quite bad today.
8. serious or severe. a bad accident; a bad mistake.
9. (of a debt) not likely to be paid. The firm loses money every year from bad debts.
ˈbadly – comparative worse: superlative worst - adverb1. not well, efficiently or satisfactorily. He plays tennis very badly.
2. to a serious or severe extent. He badly needs a haircut; The dress is badly stained.
ˈbadness nounbadly off
not having much especially money. We can't go on holiday – we are too badly off.
feel bad (about something) to feel upset or ashamed about something. I feel bad about forgetting to telephone you.
go from bad to worse to get into an even worse condition etc than before. Things are going from bad to worse for the firm – not only are we losing money but there's going to be a strike as well.
not bad quite good. `Is she a good swimmer?' `She's not bad.'
too bad unfortunate. It's too bad that he has left.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.