Alternatives

Alternatives is a recurring post in which I give synonyms for an over used word. Click on the tab above for a "complete" list of over used words. 

Depending on how you use it, this list may come in handy for finding another way to say the same thing.

Today's word is:  BAD


BAD has been around since 1200 AD.  If you want to learn more about BAD check out it's history HERE. There are many different ways or senses in which we use BAD. As in feeling ill, "I feel bad." Or having an intuitive sense, "I have a bad feeling about this." Or in feeling regretful, "I feel bad about hitting my brother." And that's just three ways we use the word. To really confuse things, BAD has also  taken on the meaning of something being really cool or nice.  "Bad jacket Bro!" Maybe in a couple of hundred years the meaning will flip entirely, just like NICE did, a word that once meant wanton or dissolute.

This a huge list of possible synonyms and I didn't get them all! 

abominable, abysmal, addled, adverse, ailing, amiss, apologetic, atrocious, awful

banned, barred, base, bastard, beastly, bilious, bitchin’, bitter, black, blah, blue, bottom out, brokenhearted, brutal, bum/bummer, bush, bush-league

careless, cast down, cheap, cheesy, coarse, common, condemned, conscience-stricken,

contemptible, contrite, corked/corky, corrupt, counterfeit, crappy, crestfallen, criminal, cruddy, cruel, crummy, cursed, cut-rate

damnable, dark, debased, debauched, decayed, decomposed, defective, deficient, defiling

degenerate, dejected, delinquent, deplorable, depraved, depressed, despicable, despondent, detestable, diddly, dirty, disagreeable, disastrous, disconsolate, discouraged/discouraging, diseased, disobedient, displeasing, disreputable, dissatisfactory, dissolute, distressed/distressing, doleful, down, down in the mouth, downcast, downer, downhearted, dreadful, droopy

egregious, errant, erring, erroneous, evil, evil-minded, execrable

fake, fallacious, fallen faulty, fearful, flagrant, flawed, forbidden, forlorn, foul, frightful

garbage, ghastly, gloomy, glum, gnarly, godawful, grave, grim, grody, gross, grungy, guilty

hangdog, hard, harsh, hateful, heartbroken, heartsick, heartsore, heavyhearted hellish,

hideous, hopeless, horrendous, horrid

icky, ignoble, ill, ill-behaved, illegal, immoral, imperfect, in pain, inadequate, incompetent, inconsolable, incorrect, infamous, inferior, infernal, iniquitous,insufficient, intense, interdicted

joyless, junky,

lame, lamentable, lousy, low, low-grade, low-rent, low-spirited

mean, mediocre, melancholic/melancholy, misbehaving, mischievous, miscreant, miserable, moldy, mournful, nasty, naughty, nefarious, negative, not good, noxious

odious, of poor quality, off, outlawed

painful, paltry, pathetic, pernicious, pestilential, phony, poor, punk, putrefied, putrid

rancid, raunchy, regretful, remorseful, reprehensible, reprobate, rotten, rough, rubbishy

sad/saddened, scanty, scurrilous, seamy, second-rate, serious, severe, shabby, sham, shitty, shoddy, sick, sinful, sleazy, slipshod, snide, sordid, sorrowful, sorry, sour, spoiled

stale, stinking/stinky, suboptimal, subpar, substandard, sucky, synthetic

terrible, the pits, tough, trashy, troubled/troubling

ugly, unacceptable, unclean, uncongenial, uncool, unethical, unfavorable, unfortunate, ungodly, unhappy, unhealthy, unlawful, unloving, unpalatable, unpleasant, unpleasing, unrighteous, unruly, unsatisfactory unsavory, unskilled, unspeakable, unsuitable, unwelcome, unwell, unwholesome, upset, useless

valueless, vexing, vicious, vile, villainous, vulgar

wacked/wacky, wanting, wicked, woebegone, woeful, worthless, wretched, wrong

yucky

Just to make it interesting here are some overused phrases...

bad news

bad seed

bad egg

bad dog

bad blood

bad hair day

bad call

And of course... Bad to the Bone. Do you have a favorite bad ass word?