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Definition of Bad egg
1. Noun. (old-fashioned slang) a bad person.
Generic synonyms: Bad Person
Antonyms: Good Egg
Definition of Bad egg
1. Noun. (idiomatic) Someone whose behaviour is reprehensible or irresponsible; a rogue ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Bad Egg
Literary usage of Bad egg
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern English and Foreign Sources by James Wood (1899)
"Malo nodo malus qua?rendus cuneus—For a 30 Mala gallina, malum ovum—Bad hen, bad
egg. hard knot a hard tool must be sought. ..."
2. Every-day English: A Sequel to "Words and Their Uses" by Richard Grant White, ( (1908)
"We say a bad man or a bad egg; and usage has transferred, by metaphor, ...
By a bad man we mean a man who is morally bad; by a bad egg, one that is ..."
3. A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant: Embracing English, American, and Anglo by Albert Barrère, Charles Godfrey Leland (1889)
"bad egg (popular), a rascal. There is some philosophy in the remark that a man
may be ... If the corresponding slang term existed in China, a bad egg would, ..."
4. An American Glossary by Richard Hopwood Thornton (1912)
"bad egg. A pascal; a worthless fellow. The KO. ... 1864 " A bad egg,"—a fellow
who had not proved to be as good as his promise. ..."
5. Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases of All Ages: Classified Subjectively and by Robert Christy (1887)
"bad egg—bad chick. Dutch. 5. Bad the crow and bad the egg. Greek. 6. Beware of
breeds; ie, an ill treed. 7. Birth is much, but breeding is more. 8. ..."
6. Food Products by Henry Clapp Sherman (1914)
"Mere rinsing, however, is not sufficient to prevent the contamination of the next
egg, since large numbers of bacteria from the bad egg remain in the ..."
7. A Desk-book of Errors in English, Including Notes on Colloquialisms and by Frank H. Vizetelly (1920)
"An acute, a severe or gnawing pain would be preferable expressions to a bad pain.
bad egg: An undesirable expression used colloquially to designate a ..."
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