The word ‘bad‘ as an adjective can mean poor quality, rotten or naughty. e.g.
- The film was bad. (poor quality)
- I’m not eating another strawberry, the last few have been bad. (rotten)
- Albie has been expelled from school, he keeps being bad. (naughty)
‘Bad’ idioms list
Let’s take a look at some common idioms containing the word ‘bad’.
- bad apple
meaning – a dishonest person/ a troublemaker
example – Now the bad apples have been removed, lessons are much easier. - bad blood
meaning – bitterness/hostility between people
example – There is bad blood between us. We fell out over a fence years ago. - bad boy
meaning – an object that is usually really good/cool/impressive/big etc.
example – Look at my new Ferrari. This bad boy can go from 0-60 in 3 seconds. - bad egg
meaning – a naughty/bad person
example – Antony is a bad egg, he’s always in trouble with the law. - bad hair day
meaning – a day when your hair is unmanageable, and everything goes wrong
example – I had a bad hair day yesterday. Hopefully, I don’t today. - bad news travels fast
meaning – people learn of negative things very quickly (faster than positive things)
example – I won’t tell anyone that Dominic has been convicted of theft, but bad news travels fast. - bad sport
meaning – a person who gets angry when they lose
example – I’m never playing Monopoly with Cara again. She’s such a bad sport. - catch someone at a bad time
meaning – attempt to interact with someone at an inconvenient time
example – Sorry about earlier. You always catch me at a bad time, the baby had been sick everywhere. - in bad shape
meaning – unhealthy, bad condition
example – Alex is in pretty bad shape; he drank a whole bottle of whiskey last night. - my bad
meaning – It’s my fault or someone else’s fault
example – I forgot to record Prison Break last night. My bad! I’ll see if I can find it online. - turn up like a bad penny
meaning – appear where you are not wanted/welcome
example – We were having a lovely evening when Jamie turned up like a bad penny.
‘Bad’ idioms list with pictures
Here’s some real life picture examples.
You can download a table of ‘bad’ idioms and expressions below.
If you’ve enjoyed this page, don’t forget to check out some more idioms with adjectives by clicking on the links below.
