# bad faith

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. The misrepresentation of one's own true motive.
2. An intent to deceive or mislead another to gain some advantage; dishonesty or fraud in a transaction (such as knowingly misrepresenting the quality of something that is being bought or sold).
3. A malicious motive by a party in a lawsuit, which has an effect on the ability to maintain causes of action and obtain legal remedies.
4. The existentialist concept of denying one's total freedom of will.

## Etymology
* (philosophy): a semantic loan from French mauvaise foi, coined by existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bad-faith