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Antonyms for go bad


Grammar : Verb
Spell : bad
Phonetic Transcription : bæd



Definition of go bad

Origin :
  • c.1200, "inferior in quality;" early 13c., "wicked, evil, vicious," a mystery word with no apparent relatives in other languages.* Possibly from Old English derogatory term bæddel and its diminutive bædling "effeminate man, hermaphrodite, pederast," probably related to bædan "to defile." A rare word before 1400, and evil was more common in this sense until c.1700. Meaning "uncomfortable, sorry" is 1839, American English colloquial.
  • Comparable words in the other Indo-European languages tend to have grown from descriptions of specific qualities, such as "ugly," "defective," "weak," "faithless," "impudent," "crooked," "filthy" (e.g. Greek kakos, probably from the word for "excrement;" Russian plochoj, related to Old Church Slavonic plachu "wavering, timid;" Persian gast, Old Persian gasta-, related to gand "stench;" German schlecht, originally "level, straight, smooth," whence "simple, ordinary," then "bad").
  • Comparative and superlative forms badder, baddest were common 14c.-18c. and used as recently as Defoe (but not by Shakespeare), but yielded to comparative worse and superlative worst (which had belonged to evil and ill).
  • As a noun, late 14c., "evil, wickedness." In U.S. place names, sometimes translating native terms meaning "supernaturally dangerous." Ironic use as a word of approval is said to be at least since 1890s orally, originally in Black English, emerging in print 1928 in a jazz context. It might have emerged from the ambivalence of expressions like bad nigger, used as a term of reproach by whites, but among blacks sometimes representing one who stood up to injustice, but in the U.S. West bad man also had a certain ambivalence:
  • These are the men who do most of the killing in frontier communities, yet it is a noteworthy fact that the men who are killed generally deserve their fate. [Farmer & Henley]
  • *Farsi has bad in more or less the same sense as the English word, but this is regarded by linguists as a coincidence. The forms of the words diverge as they are traced back in time (Farsi bad comes from Middle Persian vat), and such accidental convergences exist across many languages, given the vast number of words in each and the limited range of sounds humans can make to signify them. Among other coincidental matches with English are Korean mani "many," Chinese pei "pay," Nahuatl (Aztecan) huel "well," Maya hol "hole."
  • As in putrefy : verb rot
  • As in rot : verb corrode, deteriorate
  • As in spoil : verb decay, turn bad
  • As in turn : verb become sour or tainted
  • As in debauch : verb deprave, corrupt
  • As in decay : verb deteriorate, crumble
  • As in die : verb wither, dwindle
Example sentences :
  • The Erentz motors would overheat; some might go bad from the strain.
  • Extract from : « Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June, 1930 » by Various
  • The year has turned, though I hope that doesn't mean it will go bad.
  • Extract from : « Dodo's Daughter » by E. F. Benson
  • They must convert it into money, since it would otherwise just go bad.
  • Extract from : « The Accumulation of Capital » by Rosa Luxemburg
  • Then, to our grief and consternation, they began suddenly to go bad.
  • Extract from : « A Camera Actress in the Wilds of Togoland » by Meg Gehrts
  • No matter what happens it's impossible that all of them should go bad at once.
  • Extract from : « The Star Lord » by Boyd Ellanby
  • Also, if he put off asking for his wish too long it might go bad.
  • Extract from : « The Little White Bird » by J. M. Barrie
  • He war a-tryin' to get your name out'n my heart, that's what he war tryin', fer he knowed I'd go bad right quick ef he could.
  • Extract from : « The Mountain Girl » by Payne Erskine
  • It is also very liable to change—every one is acquainted with its tendency to "go bad."
  • Extract from : « The Bacillus of Long Life » by Loudon Douglas
  • But if any thing should go bad afterwards, I should never forgive myself, for not taking this opportunity.
  • Extract from : « Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded » by Samuel Richardson
  • And what if her engine should go bad up there—or a tire blow out!
  • Extract from : « Crossed Trails in Mexico » by Nell Virginia Fairfax and Helen Allan Ripley

Synonyms for go bad

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019