gone bad

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"gone-bad" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“gone bad” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of foods and commodities, having become spoiled, rotten, or otherwise unusable due to age or storage conditions.

Key facts for gone bad
PropertyValue
Headwordgone bad
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “gone bad” sits in English frequency

gone bad falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for gone bad is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for gone bad, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is gone bad, spelled G-O-N-E- -B-A-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of foods and commodities, having become spoiled, rotten, or otherwise unusable due to age or storage conditions.
  2. 2
    Of a person or entity, having ceased to be reputable and having instead become delinquent, criminal, or poorly behaved.
  3. 3
    Of a region or area, having become unsafe.
  4. 4
    Of a delinquent or criminal act, having unexpectedly become more violent than is typical for that act—having resulted in an attack on a victim leading to serious injury or death.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "gone bad"?
"gone bad" is spelled G-O-N-E- -B-A-D.
What does "gone bad" mean?
As an adjective, "gone bad" means: Of foods and commodities, having become spoiled, rotten, or otherwise unusable due to age or storage conditions.
What language does "gone bad" come from?
"gone bad" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “gone bad”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is G-O-N-E- -B-A-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list