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bad - thesaurus entry
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90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

adjective
  1. 1
    not pleasant or enjoyable

    *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

    Not pleasant and enjoyable: unpleasant, bad, awful, harsh, bleak, unappealing, unattractive, disagreeable, objectionable, hard... more
  2. 2
    likely to cause major problems

    *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

    Causing problems and disagreement: difficult, bad, embarrassing, problematic, troublesome, disruptive, contentious, adverse, invidious, fraught... more
    1. a.
      likely to harm your health or your body

      *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

      Bad for you or your health: bad, unhealthy, debilitating... more
    2. b.
      likely to damage your success or people’s opinion of you

      *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

      Bad for your reputation: bad, degrading, compromising, defamatory, libellous, scurrilous, discreditable, slanderous... more
  3. 3
    of very low quality

    *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

    Bad or of a low quality: bad, poor, second-rate, low-grade, dire, pitiful, terrible, embarrassing, disgraceful, crap... more
    1. a.
      not at all skillful

      *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

      Not skilful or able: incompetent, incapable, awful, helpless, amateur, inept, inexpert, poor, no good, someone couldn’t do something if they tried... more
  4. 4
    not appropriate or convenient

    *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

    Not suitable or convenient: unsuitable, inappropriate, inconvenient, improper, unsuited, untoward, untimely, unseemly, unbecoming, inopportune... more
    1. a.
      not fair, acceptable, or reasonable

      *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

      Unfair: unfair, unjust, unequal, unreasonable, one-sided, arbitrary, biased, wrongful, unjustified, partial... more
  6. 6
    behaving in a cruel, evil, or criminal way

    *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

    Cruel and unkind: cruel, unkind, evil, awful, inhuman, hateful, uncharitable, hard, monstrous, pitiless... more
    1. a.
      used about children who do not behave well or obey adults

      *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

      Words used to describe children: adolescent, bad, big, naughty, prepubescent, preteen, pubescent, small, spoiled, spoilt... more
  7. 7
    no longer fresh or good to eat or drink

    *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

    Tasting bad or lacking flavour: stale, nasty, rancid, sour, inedible, unpalatable, tasteless, bland, insipid, bad... more
  8. 8
    comparative badder
    superlative baddest
    spoken good. This word is used mainly by young people.

    *American English synonyms or related words for this sense of bad*

    Words used mainly by young people: awesome, bad, gross, gross-out, wicked, be the bomb, my bad, word up... more

phrases

These are synonyms and/or related words for bad in the American English Thesaurus. View synonyms and/or related words for bad in the British English Thesaurus.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to British English.

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

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dray

a type of cart pulled by a horse and used in the past for carrying barrels of beer

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conflict mineral

a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons

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