bad 1 of 3

adjective

ˈbad How to pronounce bad (audio)
Definition of badnext
1
as in unacceptable
falling short of a standard a bad first attempt at making meat loaf resulted in a soggy, inedible mess

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in evil
not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable stealing is just plain bad

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in harmful
causing or capable of causing harm sitting too close to the television is said to be bad for the eyes

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in naughty
engaging in or marked by childish misbehavior the children were bad, so they didn't get dessert

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in sad
feeling unhappiness hearing about the world's miseries always makes him feel bad

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
6
as in defective
having a fault a bad video connection that is causing some picture loss

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
7
as in rotten
having undergone organic breakdown I think the milk has turned bad

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
8
as in unpleasant
not giving pleasure to the mind or senses the air in the damp basement had a very bad smell

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
9
as in terrible
of low quality bad shoes that fell apart within a week

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
10
as in poorly
temporarily suffering from a disorder of the body I've been feeling bad all week with this cold

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
11
as in null
having no legal or binding force all known claims on the property were dismissed by the court as bad

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
12
as in malicious
slang having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it with all of his tattoos and piercings, that skinhead looks like one really bad dude

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

bad

2 of 3

adverb

as in badly
in an unsatisfactory way you didn't do too bad on the treadmill test

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

bad

3 of 3

noun

as in wrong
that which is morally unacceptable there's bad and good in people of every race and nationality

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bad
Adjective
That if you were deemed, as an enslaved person, if you were deemed troublesome or in some way unwanted, you would literally be sold down the river from the more northern states to the deeper south where you would potentially be treated even worse. — Dana Taylor, USA Today, 3 July 2026 Activists and faith leaders denounced the conditions at the office during a press conference the previous day, calling on officials to visit the facility and said there had been bad conditions at the facility for weeks. — Vera Lucia Pappaterra, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026
Adverb
The dialogue sometimes lapses from bad-funny to just bad. — Judy Berman, Time, 21 Jan. 2026 In one of them, a spot attacking Harman, Checchi included a photo of the lieutenant governor — and not a bad-looking one at that. — Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2026
Noun
Reports out of fall camp haven’t been super favorable to their offense, and while the defense will, again, be top-notch, a team with this bad of an offense cannot be trusted. — Austin Mock, The Athletic, 19 Aug. 2024 Naturally, the meeting is a flop because no one was prepared, and their spontaneous ideas are frankly fireable-offense bad (a baguette bag shaped like a baguette for Paris? — Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for bad
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bad
  1. unacceptable
  2. evil
  3. harmful
  4. naughty
  5. sad
  6. defective
  7. rotten
  8. unpleasant
Adjective
  • In their grievance letter, the detainees called the markups an unacceptable business practice with no apparent limit.
    — Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • Overt racial prejudice, long considered socially unacceptable, is increasingly visible in public life, marking a shift from previously subtle forms.
    — Maia Niguel Hoskin, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of unacceptable
Adjective
  • There is so much evil and suffering in the world, so much conniving and malicious intent, and the self is, at least, a familiar foe.
    — Meghan O’Gieblyn, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026
  • When the monsters reveal an evil agenda that goes beyond becoming movie stars, the Minions are forced to battle them to save the world.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 30 June 2026
Definition of evil
Adjective
  • The plasma process also produced very little smoke or tar, reducing harmful secondary pollutants typically associated with biomass conversion and making the technology a cleaner way to produce renewable solid fuel.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 1 July 2026
  • At the same time, its flowers attract beneficial predatory insects, such as ladybugs and parasitic wasps, that naturally hunt harmful garden pests.
    — SJ McShane, Martha Stewart, 30 June 2026
Definition of harmful
Adjective
  • Has Greta eaten or chewed on anything naughty?
    — Breanne L. Heldman, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026
  • The play was naughty stuff in 1925, when the show, starring Tallulah Bankhead, got banned.
    — Sheldon Pearce, New Yorker, 15 May 2026
Definition of naughty
Adjective
  • Day broke, bathing everything in light, and so great was the vitality of the early-morning sun that even the unhappy city seemed to smile a wan, sad smile.
    — Vasily Grossman, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026
  • But SpringHill really took off in 2020, two seasons into James’ Lakers term, when The SpringHill Company went public (and the Lakers won the sad COVID-bubble NBA Championship).
    — Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 30 June 2026
Definition of sad
Adjective
  • Avila's family sued Tesla last week, alleging her death resulted from the company's gross negligence and failure to warn consumers that its self-driving systems were defective.
    — Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026
  • Warranty costs are the expenses an automaker incurs to cover repairs, replacements and other costs for defective parts or workmanship under a certain period of time or miles driven after customers purchase a new vehicle.
    — Michael Wayland, CNBC, 3 July 2026
Definition of defective
Adjective
  • But Reddick shouldn’t yet be counted out because his recent downturn is more due to rotten luck than substandard performance.
    — Jess Bryant, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Unashamed about its unoriginality, the movie debuted in May last year to a 'rotten' rating by critics and audiences alike on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
    — Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
Definition of rotten
Adjective
  • Alas, Ligeti proved to be an extraordinarily difficult collaborator, his manic perfectionism colliding with practical reality and leading to unpleasant scenes.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 29 June 2026
  • The consequences are unpleasant, but can also turn dangerous very quickly as body temperature rises.
    — Victoria Forster, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
Definition of unpleasant

Phrases Containing bad

Browse Nearby Words

backyards
bad
bad blood
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bad.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bad. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on bad

Nglish: Translation of bad for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All