bad
/bæd/adjective, adverb, noun, interjection, verb
bad is spelled B-A-D: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 339 times per million words in written English, the 274th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bad vs badly” about 480 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, bad means “Of low quality” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bad?
| Letters | 3: B-A-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 339 times per million words; the 274th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bad?
Bad appears 339 times per million words in written English, the 274th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bad?
- US /bæd/
- Australia /bæːd/
- /bɛd/
Bad has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-bad.ogg, En-us-bad.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bad
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: bid.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bad?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bad from its last stressed vowel (/æd/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: dab, abd, dba.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bad
- worse comparative
- worst superlative
- badder comparative
- more bad comparative
- baddest superlative
- most bad superlative
- bads plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- badding participle, present
- badded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bad mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of low quality.
That movie was really bad!
- 2
Inaccurate; incorrect
A bad guess.
- 3
Unfavorable; negative; not good.
Hiring practice is very bad in this company.
- 4
Not suitable or fitting.
Do you think it is a bad idea to confront him directly?
- 5
Not appropriate, of manners etc.
It is bad manners to talk with your mouth full.
- 6
Harmful, especially unhealthy; liable to cause health problems.
Lard is bad for you. Smoking is bad for you, too. Grapes are bad for dogs but not for humans.
- 7
Sickly, unhealthy, unwell.
Joe's in a bad way; he can't even get out of bed.
- 8
The injured or weak one of a pair of body parts, where the other one is healthy.
I accidentally put my weight on my bad leg and fell over.
- 9
informalNot covered by funds on account.
He gave me a bad check.
- 10
slangBold, daring, and tough.
He's the baddest guy in town!
- 11
slangGood, superlative, excellent, cool.
Man, that new car you bought is bad!
- 12
USslangOverly promiscuous, licentious.
- 13
slangVery attractive; hot, sexy.
Hopefully I can pull some bad bitches tonight.
- 14
slangAttractive due to (one's) rebellious nature.
That boy is the baddest!
adverb
- 1
colloquialslangBadly; poorly.
I didn't do too bad in the last exam.
- 2
slangBadly; severely, extremely, passionately, eagerly.
Please come back, baby. I miss you so bad!
noun
- 1
slangSomething that is bad; a harm or evil.
- 2
slangError; mistake.
- 3
slangAn item (or kind of item) of merchandise with negative value; an unwanted good.
interjection
- 1
slangUsed to scold a misbehaving child or pet.
Bad! You know you're not allowed in the kitchen after dinner.
verb
- 1
UKslangTo shell (a walnut).
A curious specimen of Gloucestershire dialect came out in an assault case heard by the Gloucester court magistrates on Saturday. One of the witnesses, speaking of what a girl was doing at the time the assault took place, said she was ‘baddi
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bad in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mauvais , méchant , faute, gaffe |
| German | schlecht, schlimm, übel , pfui |
| Portuguese | ruim, mau , errado |
| Spanish | malo , inapropiado , desagradable , defectuoso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bad come from?
From Middle English bad, badde (“wicked, evil, depraved”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps a shortening of Old English bæddel (“hermaphrodite”) (for loss of -el compare Middle English muche from Old English myċel, and Middle English wenche from Old English wenċel), or at least related to it and/or to bǣ̆dan (“to defile”), compare Old High German pad (“hermaphrodite”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).