- bad
- bad 1 Bad, evil, ill, wicked, naughty are comparable when they mean not meeting with the approval of the ethical consciousness.Bad is a very general term and applies to anyone or anything reprehensible, for whatever reason and to whatever degree{
almost as bad, good mother, as kill a king, and marry with his brother— Shak.
}{Johnnie's been a bad boy today: he's emptied the cookie jar
}{bad dog! you've torn up my scarf
}Evil is a stronger term than bad and usually suggests the sinister or baleful as well as the reprehensible deeds{the evil eye
}{he knew nothing bad about him, but he felt something evil— Cather
}{an evil and treacherous folk, and they lied and murdered for gold— Morris
}{the evil counselors who . . . abused his youth—J. R. Green
}Ill is close to evil in basic meaning and may suggest an active malevolence or vicious intent{an ill deed
}{it was ill counsel had misled the girl— Tennyson
}Often ill may be used in a weaker sense to suggest the imputing or implying of evil or sometimes of mere objectionableness or inferiority to someone or something{held in ill repute by his fellows
}{attached an ill significance to the statement
}{had an ill opinion of their abilities
}Wicked implies the actual often conscious or deliberate contravention or violation of moral law{God is angry with the wicked every day— Ps 7:11
}{wicked designs
}It is sometimes used with weakened, even playful, force{you are the wickedest witty person I know— Lytton
}Naughty was once serious{a most vile flagitious man, a sorry and naughty governor as could be— Barrow
}but is now trivial in its application. Mostly it implies mischievousness on the part of a child too young to have a lively sense of right and wrong{Charles never was a naughty boy. He never robbed birds' nests, or smoked behind the barn, or played marbles on Sunday— Deland
}Sometimes it expresses charitable censure of a person of responsible age who has done wrong{it was only one naughty woman out of the world. The clergyman of the parish didn't refuse to give her decent burial— Meredith
}Often it is applied to what is impolite, impudent, or amusingly risqué{the still popular, and still naughty, and perpetually profane Decameron— Highet
}Antonyms: goodContrasted words: righteous, virtuous, *moral, ethical, noble2 Bad, poor, wrong are comparable when they mean not measuring up to a standard of what is satisfactory.Bad implies a failure to meet one's approval; it need not imply positive condemnation, but it always suggests that the thing so described falls below the mark or is not up to what one would call good{he is a bad correspondent
}{her handwriting is very bad
}{it's a bad day for a long walk
}It often also implies positive harmfulness{a bad light for the eyes
}{bad food for the young
}{a bad book for a depressed person
}{a bad environment
}{it is bad for her to live alone
}Sometimes it suggests corruption or pollution{this meat is bad
}{bad[/i] air
}{bad water
}Often also it may suggest unpleasantness in any degree, in this sense ranging from the merely displeasing to the strongly offensive or painful or distressing{it leaves a bad taste in the mouth
}{have bad news
}{he always comforted himself when things were bad by thinking how much worse they might have been
}Poor also implies a failure to reach a satisfactory point or level, but it usually imputes to the thing so described a deficiency in amount or in returns or a lack of a quality or qualities essential to excellence; thus, a poor crop is one that is relatively scanty; poor land is wanting in fertility, while bad land lacks the potentiality for agricultural development; a poor book may be devoid of interest or artistic quality, but a bad book is commonly offensive to one's sense of propriety; a poor carpenter is one lacking in skill{business was poor this year
}{a poor dancer
}{poor bread
}{a poor return for one's effort
}Wrong (see also FALSE) implies a failure to conform to a strict standard; it suggests deviation from a standard of what is satisfactory or, more specifically, fit, appropriate, proper, or orderly{I know that something is wrong with this suit
}{do not make a wrong choice in selecting your profession
}{hang a picture in the wrong light
}{there is nothing wrong in this arrangement of the furniture
}Antonyms: goodContrasted words: excellent, perfect, meritorious (see corresponding nouns at EXCELLENCE): right (see GOOD)
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
