Bad in Different Languages
Discover 'Bad' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Bad
Afrikaans sleg | ||
Albanian keq | ||
Amharic መጥፎ | ||
Arabic سيئة | ||
Armenian վատ | ||
Assamese বেয়া | ||
Aymara qhuru | ||
Azerbaijani pis | ||
Bambara jugu | ||
Basque txarra | ||
Belarusian дрэнна | ||
Bengali খারাপ | ||
Bhojpuri खराब | ||
Bosnian loše | ||
Bulgarian лошо | ||
Catalan dolent | ||
Cebuano daotan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 坏 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 壞 | ||
Corsican gattivu | ||
Croatian loše | ||
Czech špatný | ||
Danish dårligt | ||
Dhivehi ގޯސް | ||
Dogri भैड़ा | ||
Dutch slecht | ||
English bad | ||
Esperanto malbona | ||
Estonian halb | ||
Ewe gbegblẽ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) masama | ||
Finnish huono | ||
French mal | ||
Frisian min | ||
Galician malo | ||
Georgian ცუდი | ||
German schlecht | ||
Greek κακό | ||
Guarani vai | ||
Gujarati ખરાબ | ||
Haitian Creole move | ||
Hausa mara kyau | ||
Hawaiian maikaʻi ʻole | ||
Hebrew רַע | ||
Hindi खराब | ||
Hmong phem | ||
Hungarian rossz | ||
Icelandic slæmt | ||
Igbo ọjọọ | ||
Ilocano dakes | ||
Indonesian buruk | ||
Irish olc | ||
Italian male | ||
Japanese 悪い | ||
Javanese ala | ||
Kannada ಕೆಟ್ಟದು | ||
Kazakh жаман | ||
Khmer អាក្រក់ | ||
Kinyarwanda bibi | ||
Konkani वायट | ||
Korean 나쁜 | ||
Krio bad | ||
Kurdish xerab | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) خراپ | ||
Kyrgyz жаман | ||
Lao ບໍ່ດີ | ||
Latin malus | ||
Latvian slikti | ||
Lingala mabe | ||
Lithuanian blogai | ||
Luganda obubi | ||
Luxembourgish schlecht | ||
Macedonian лошо | ||
Maithili खराब | ||
Malagasy ratsy | ||
Malay buruk | ||
Malayalam മോശം | ||
Maltese ħażina | ||
Maori kino | ||
Marathi वाईट | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯐꯠꯇꯕ | ||
Mizo chhia | ||
Mongolian муу | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) မကောင်းဘူး | ||
Nepali नराम्रो | ||
Norwegian dårlig | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) zoipa | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଖରାପ | ||
Oromo badaa | ||
Pashto بد | ||
Persian بد | ||
Polish zły | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) ruim | ||
Punjabi ਬੁਰਾ | ||
Quechua mana allin | ||
Romanian rău | ||
Russian плохо | ||
Samoan leaga | ||
Sanskrit असमीचीनः | ||
Scots Gaelic dona | ||
Sepedi mpe | ||
Serbian лоше | ||
Sesotho mpe | ||
Shona zvakaipa | ||
Sindhi خراب | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) නරක | ||
Slovak zlé | ||
Slovenian slab | ||
Somali xun | ||
Spanish malo | ||
Sundanese goréng | ||
Swahili mbaya | ||
Swedish dålig | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) masama | ||
Tajik бад | ||
Tamil மோசமான | ||
Tatar начар | ||
Telugu చెడు | ||
Thai ไม่ดี | ||
Tigrinya ሕማቅ | ||
Tsonga biha | ||
Turkish kötü | ||
Turkmen erbet | ||
Twi (Akan) nyɛ | ||
Ukrainian погано | ||
Urdu برا | ||
Uyghur ناچار | ||
Uzbek yomon | ||
Vietnamese xấu | ||
Welsh drwg | ||
Xhosa imbi | ||
Yiddish שלעכט | ||
Yoruba buburu | ||
Zulu kubi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | "Sleg" is an abbreviation of the Dutch word "slecht" through the Yiddish "shleecht" and is originally derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*sleǵʰ-," also found in the Sanskrit "sarga" and Greek "herkos". |
| Albanian | The word "keq" in Albanian can also refer to something that is inferior or of poor quality, as well as being used as an intensifier in negative expressions. |
| Amharic | The same word "መጥፎ" also refers to a physical deformation, possibly due to an injury. |
| Arabic | The word "سيئة" has other meanings including "evil", "harmful", "wicked", and "unlucky." |
| Armenian | "Վատ" also means "heavy" and derives from the Indo-European root *wāg-, meaning "to weigh". |
| Azerbaijani | In Turkic languages, including Azerbaijani, "pis" means both "bad" and "dirty". |
| Basque | Although the Basque txarra is usually translated as "bad" it also means "left" and "difficult" in other contexts |
| Belarusian | The word "дрэнна" in Belarusian is related to the Russian word "дрянь" and the Ukrainian word "дрянь", all of which mean "trash" or "rubbish". |
| Bengali | In Bengali, "খারাপ" (kharap) can have different negative connotations, including "unpleasant," "unfavorable," "rotten," or "wicked." |
| Bosnian | The word 'loše' is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'losъ', which also meant 'fate'. |
| Bulgarian | The word “лошо” is also used to describe something that is unpleasant, harmful, or evil. |
| Catalan | In Catalan, dolent means "bad" but has roots in the Latin "dolere" meaning "to feel pain." |
| Cebuano | Daotan can also mean naughty, ugly, rude or wicked. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The character '坏' (huài) originally depicted a broken earthenware pot, hence its meaning 'spoiled' or 'faulty'. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The character 壞 (坏) can also mean 'to spoil' or 'to break', and is composed of the radicals 阜 (fù, 'mound') and 歹 (dǎi, 'bad'). |
| Corsican | The word "gattivu" is related to a prehistoric Indo-European root meaning "to steal" in many languages. |
| Croatian | "Loše" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*loti̯ь", meaning "bad, evil, wicked". |
| Czech | The word špatný also has a secondary meaning of 'unlucky' in Czech |
| Danish | The Danish word "dårligt" originally meant "foolish" or "clumsy," and is related to the Swedish word "dåre" ("fool"). |
| Dutch | The Old Saxon word "sleht" originally meant "simple" or "straightforward", which later evolved into the modern Dutch "slecht" meaning "bad". |
| Esperanto | "Malbona" also means "sinister" from Greek "malos" and Latin "malus" and "malignant" from Greek "malakós" (soft) referring to its effect on living tissues. |
| Estonian | "Halb" is a word in Estonian that means "bad", but it can also mean "badly" or "poorly". |
| Finnish | "Huono" is a cognate with "good" in English, "gut" in German, and "goed" in Dutch. |
| French | The term 'mal' derives from the Latin verb 'maledicere', meaning 'to speak ill of'. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word for "bad," "min," may derive from the Proto-Germanic "minnutha," meaning "less" or "inferior." |
| Galician | The word "malo" also refers to an evil spirit or demon |
| Georgian | The word "ცუდი" can also mean "sick" or "unwell" in Georgian. |
| German | The word "Schlecht" can also refer to a "small group of people" or the "trailing end of something," such as a line of people. |
| Greek | The word "κακό" in Greek can also mean "pain" or "evil" and is related to the word "κακός" (wicked, bad). |
| Gujarati | The word "ખરાબ" in Gujarati originates from the Persian word "خراب" (kharāb), meaning "ruined" or "desolate". |
| Haitian Creole | The word "move" in Haitian Creole (pronounced "mouv") is derived from the French word "mauvais", meaning "bad". It is often used to describe something that is of poor quality or undesirable. |
| Hausa | "Mara kyau" means "bad" in Hausa, and is also used to describe something ugly or unpleasant. |
| Hawaiian | ʻBadʼ and its more forceful term ʻinoʻ are often paired in a word play that emphasizes the negative qualities of something, as in ʻMaikaʻi ʻole kino, ʻino mau loa.ʼ (A bad body endures forever). |
| Hebrew | The original Hebrew word "רַע" means to act in a disordered or chaotic manner. |
| Hindi | "खराब" originated from "कराप" meaning "evil" in Prakrit and "खराप" in Marathi, later getting its current form in Hindi. |
| Hmong | The word "phem" can also have negative connotations, such as meaning "broken" or "spoiled". |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "rossz" has Slavic roots and is related to the words "roz" (rye) and "rozhda" (birth), implying a connection to spoiled crops and hence misfortune. |
| Icelandic | The word "slæmt" in Icelandic originally meant "wrong" or "awkward". |
| Igbo | Ọjọọ, meaning 'bad', also relates to the Igbo calendar month of April and the concept of a 'taboo' day. |
| Indonesian | "Buruk" in Indonesian also means "sour" and derives from a Proto-Malay-Polynesian word root meaning "spoiled". |
| Irish | The Irish word 'olc' not only means 'bad' in English, but can also refer to 'evil', 'harmful', 'unlucky', 'ill' or 'poor'. |
| Italian | The Italian word “male” can also mean “evil” or “pain,” due to its origin in the Latin word “malus,” which had a similar meaning. |
| Japanese | "悪い" can also mean "not good" or "inferior" in Japanese. |
| Javanese | The word "ala" in Javanese can have multiple meanings with distinct etymologies, including being derogatory, unfortunate, or indicating a lack of quality. |
| Kannada | The word 'ಕೆಟ್ಟದು' can also mean 'spoiled' or 'went bad', especially when referring to food. |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "жаман" derives from Old Turkic "çaman", "bad", "unlucky". |
| Khmer | The Khmer word អាក្រក់ originally meant "unripe" or "raw," and only later came to mean "bad" or "defective." |
| Korean | "나쁜" originally meant "salty" or "bitter" but over time came to mean "bad" in general. |
| Kurdish | The word "xerab" in Kurdish derives from the Proto-Iranian term *ksarap- and is also an antonym of "baş" ("good"). |
| Kyrgyz | The word "жаман" in Kyrgyz can also refer to a type of evil spirit or demon. |
| Lao | The term "ບໍ່ດີ" originates from the Sanskrit word "duṣṭa" meaning "corrupted; defective." |
| Latin | The Latin word "malus" also means "apple tree" and is the origin of the word "malice", meaning "ill will". |
| Latvian | The word "slikti" has cognates in the Sanskrit words "sligh" and "slagh" (to be lax) and "slig" (to loosen). |
| Lithuanian | While 'blogas' means 'bad' in Lithuanian, in Old Prussian and Old Latvian the word 'blogas' meant 'good'. The word 'blogas' also has the connotation of 'ugly' in the Lithuanian language. |
| Macedonian | The word 'лошо' in Macedonian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'lǫdъ', which also means 'bad' or 'evil'. |
| Malagasy | In Madagascar, the word "ratsy" not only means "bad" but also "ill-tasting" or "unripe." |
| Malay | "Buruk" can also mean "dirty" or "evil" or used to describe skin sores or wounds in Malay. |
| Malayalam | In Malayalam, "മോശം" can also mean "ugly" or "unsuitable". |
| Maltese | The word 'ħażina' derives from the Semitic root H-Z-N, meaning 'to lack' or 'to be evil'. |
| Maori | In Maori, "kino" can also refer to a physical or spiritual illness or something that is morally wrong. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "वाईट" ("bad") originally meant "harmful" in Sanskrit but evolved to mean "bad" due to its usage alongside negative adjectives in religious texts like the Bhagavad Gita. |
| Mongolian | The word “муу” can mean “dark”, “black”, or “unlucky” in Mongolian. |
| Nepali | The Nepali word "नराम्रो" can also mean "ugly", "disgusting", "wicked", and "harmful." |
| Norwegian | "Dårlig" can also mean "sick" or "poor" in Norwegian, and it's derived from the Old Norse word "darrligr," meaning "sluggish" or "unwell." |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Zopa was derived from the word zowa (to rot), thus implying that 'zoipa' means something rotten or something that is not good. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "بد" can also refer to a type of traditional Afghan cloak worn by women. |
| Persian | The Persian word "بد" can also mean "evil," "unpleasant," or "ugly." |
| Polish | The word "zły" in Polish also refers to something or someone that is unpleasant or harmful |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "ruim" in Portuguese is also used to describe evil, low-quality, or unpleasant things |
| Punjabi | The word "ਬੁਰਾ" can also mean "evil", "wicked", or "unlucky" in Punjabi. |
| Romanian | In Romanian, the word "rău" not only signifies "bad" but also "evil" or even "illness". |
| Russian | The word "плохо" also means "poor" or "ill" in Russian. |
| Samoan | The word leaga can also refer to a type of Samoan tattoo or a Samoan war club. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word "dona" comes from the Gaelic root "do-," meaning "black, bad, ugly, evil." |
| Serbian | In Serbo-Croatian it has also alternate meanings of "worse", "evil" or "badly (in terms of health)" |
| Sesotho | The Sesotho word "mpe" can also mean "ugly" or "unpleasant to look at." |
| Shona | Zvakaipa can also be used to refer to something that is not right or proper. |
| Sindhi | The word "خراب" in Sindhi comes from the Arabic word "خراب" meaning "ruined" or "destroyed", and also has the alternate meaning of "empty" or "vacant"} |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word 'නරක' in Sinhala is derived from the Sanskrit word 'नरक' (naraka), meaning 'hell' or 'a place of punishment for the wicked'. |
| Slovak | "Zlé" can also mean "sick" in Slovak, as it does in many other Slavic languages. |
| Slovenian | "Slabo" was originally a verb - "oslabeti" in some Slavic languages still means to get loose, weak or powerless. |
| Somali | Somali "xun" originally meant "rotten" or "spoiled," which is still its meaning in the Maay language. |
| Spanish | The word "malo" in Spanish originates from the Latin word "malus", which means "bad", "evil", or "unfavorable". |
| Sundanese | The word "goréng" in Sundanese also means "to cook by frying" or "fried". |
| Swahili | The word "mbaya" in Swahili also means "illness" or "pain". |
| Swedish | "Dålig" can also mean "poor" or "weak" depending on its context. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Masama" can also mean "dirty," "unclean," or "evil," depending on the context. |
| Tajik | This word also means “bad quality” and is used to say that something has a “bad smell”. |
| Tamil | The Tamil word மோசமான (mosamaana) is also used to describe something that is not very good, but not necessarily bad, like a mediocre film. |
| Telugu | The Telugu word "చెడు" (chedu) also has alternate meanings such as "spoiled" and "corrupted". |
| Thai | The Thai word "ไม่ดี" can also be used to express disapproval, dislike, or unsatisfactoriness in a less severe way compared to "เลว" (lew). |
| Turkish | The word "kötü" is derived from Proto-Turkic *kötüg meaning "rotten", and is cognate with Mongolian hötii "rotten, decayed". |
| Ukrainian | The word "погано" in Ukrainian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "pagъ", meaning "unlucky" or "unclean." |
| Urdu | برا 'barā' also means 'twelve' in Urdu. |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word 'yomon' is of Persian origin and has cognates in other Iranian languages like Tajiki, Pashto, and Kurdish. |
| Vietnamese | "Xấu" in Vietnamese means "ugly" as well. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "drwg" has a dual usage, also meaning "affliction" or "misfortune" depending on context. |
| Xhosa | Imbi is also the Xhosa word for a type of traditional beer made from maize. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "שלעכט" (shlekht) can also refer to something unpleasant or disagreeable. |
| Yoruba | Buburu is also used figuratively to refer to someone or something that is unattractive or unappealing |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "kubi" can also mean "rotten" or "sour" in certain contexts. |
| English | The word "bad" originated from the Proto-Indo-European root "*bhəd-", meaning "to pierce, to strike, to hurt". |