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Synonyms for badness
noun misfortune

malady
illness
pain
ailment
sickness
abuse
misery
disease
evil

suffering
malaise
affliction
woe
trouble
disorder
infirmity
syndrome
complaint

mischief
affection
insult
trial
harm
indisposition
malice
wrong
hurt

tribulation
wickedness
cruelty
depravity
damage
unpleasantness
injury
condition
destruction

Antonyms for badness

health
happiness
joy
aid
advantage
healthiness
praise
friendliness
thoughtfulness
virtue

favor
improvement
privilege
profit
prosperity
good health
well-being
comfort
cheer
pleasure

help
blessing
peace
benefit
good
kindness
right
fortune
luck

Usage Notes

The adjective bad meaning “unpleasant, unattractive, unfavorable, spoiled, etc.,” is the usual form to follow such copulative verbs as sound, smell, look, and taste: After the rainstorm the water tasted bad. The coach says the locker room smells bad. After the copulative verb feel, the adjective badly in reference to physical or emotional states is also used and is standard, although bad is more common in formal writing: I feel bad from overeating. She felt badly about her friend’s misfortune. When the adverbial use is required, badly is standard with all verbs: She reacted badly to the criticism. Bad as an adverb appears mainly in informal contexts: I didn’t do too bad on the tests. He wants money so bad it hurts. See also badly, good.
Concept Thesaurus for word badness
2. Subservience to ends; degree of subservience
Synonyms – noun

hurtfulness
plague spot (insalubrity)
Jonah
thorn in the side.
ill-treatment
oppression
injury (damage)
abomination
depravity

virulence.
evil star
snake in the grass
malignity
annoyance
persecution
knockout drops [U.S.].
painfulness

evil doer
ill wind
skeleton in the closet
malevolence
molestation
outrage
badness
pestilence (disease)

bane
hoodoo
amari aliquid
tender mercies [ironically].
abuse
misusage
peccancy
guilt

Synonyms – verbs

be burtful
work evil
hurt
wrong
trample upon
overburden
run down
ill-use
scratch
do harm
outrage.
destroy

cause evil
do evil[more]
harm
aggrieve
tread upon
weigh down
molest
ill-treat
maul
do a mischief
do mischief

produce evil
damnify
injure (damage)
oppress
bear hard upon
weigh heavy on
maltreat
buffet
smite (scourge)
stab
make mischief

inflict evil
endamage
pain
persecute
put upon
victimize
abuse
bruise
do violence
pierce
bring into trouble.

Synonyms – adjectives

hurtful
baleful
noxious
mischief-making
noisome
wide-wasting.
untoward
onerous
venomous
deadly (killing)
ill
horrid
peccant
rotten at the core
villanous
exceptionable indifferent
wretched
lamentable
depraved

harmful
injurious
pernicious
malefic
prejudicial
unlucky
disastrous.
malign (malevolent)
envenomed
destructive (destroying)
arrant
horrible
foul
rotten to the core.
mean (paltry)
below par (imperfect)
sad
pitiful, pitiable, woeful (painful)
shocking

scathful
deleterious
mischievous
malignant
disserviceable
sinister
oppressive
corrupting (corrupt [more]
corrosive
inauspicious
as bad as bad can be
dire
fulsome
vile
injured, deteriorated
illcontrived
grievous
evil
reprehensible (disapprove)

baneful
detrimental
full of mischief
nocuous
disadvantageous
obnoxious
burdensome
virulent
poisonous (morbific)
bad
dreadful
rank
rotten
base
unsatisfactory
ill-conditioned
deplorable
wrong

Synonyms – phrases
bad is the best: the worst come to the worst; herba mala presto cresco; “wrongs unredressed or insults unavenged ” [Wordsworth].
Antonyms

goodness

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Other adjectives related to badness

abominable
bad
below par
corrupting
damned
deleterious
destructive
diabolic
dissentaneous
elf
execrable
foul
ghostly
hateful as a toad
hurtful
impish
infandous
irremediable
malign
nocent
obnoxious
pernicious
poisonous
roinous
scathful
sinister
unearthly
untoward
virulent
wrong

accursed
baleful
burdensome
crapulous
deadly
demoniacal
deteriorated
dire
disserviceable
elfin
fiendish
full of mischief
grievous
haunted
hyperphysical
inauspicious
infernal
lamentable
malignant
nocuous
onerous
picayune
prejudicial
rotten
scroflulous
spectral
unlucky
venomous
weird

arrant
baneful
confounded
cursed
debased
deplorable
detestable
disadvantageous
dreadful
evil
fiendlike
fulsome
harmful
horrible
ill
incompetent
injured
lurid
mean
noisome
oppressive
pitiable
rank
rotten to the core
shammocking
unadvisable
unprofitable
vile
wide

as bad as bad can be
base
corrosive
damnable
deedeed
depraved
detrimental
disastrous
eldritch
exceptionable
flagrant
ghostlike
hateful
horrid
ill
indifferent
injurious
malefic
mischief
noxious
peccant
pitiful
reprehensible
sad
shocking
uncanny
unsatisfactory
villainous
wretched

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