Dumb vs Bad - What's the difference?
dumb | bad |
(label) Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
* Hooker
(label) Silent; unaccompanied by words.
* Shakespeare
*
* J. C. Shairp
extremely stupid.
(label) Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.
Lacking brightness or clearness, as a colour.
* De Foe
To silence.
* 1911 , Lindsay Swift, William Lloyd Garrison , p. 272,
To make stupid.
* 2003 , Angela Calabrese Barton, Teaching Science for Social Justice , p. 124,
To represent as stupid.
* 2004 , Stephen Oppenheimer, The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of Africa , p. 107,
To reduce the intellectual demands of.
* 2002 , Deborah Meier, In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing , p. 126,
Not good; unfavorable; negative.
* , chapter=10
, title= Not suitable or fitting.
Seemingly non-appropriate, in manners, etc.
* , chapter=7
, title= Unhealthy.
Tricky; stressful; unpleasant.
Evil; wicked.
Faulty; not functional.
(of food) , rotten, overripe.
(of breath) , foul.
(informal) Bold and daring.
(of a, need or want) Severe, urgent.
Badly.
(slang) error, mistake
* '>citation
*
*
(countable, uncountable, economics) An item (or kind of item) of merchandise with negative value; an unwanted good.
* {{quote-book, title=International Economics: Global Markets and Competition
, first=Henry
, last=Thompson
, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=RQeYBbSlXLIC&lpg=PA97&dq=%22economic%20bad%22&pg=PA97v=onepage&q=%22economic%20bad%22&f=false
, page=97
, year=2011
, edition=3rd
, publisher=World Scientific
, passage=Imports are an economic good but exports an economic bad . Exports must be produced but are enjoyed by foreign consumers.
}}
* {{quote-book, title=Economics
, author=William J. Boyes, Michael Melvin
, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=LgaZaie5V1YC&lpg=PA4&dq=bads&pg=PA4v=onepage&q=bads&f=false
, page=4
, year=2011
, edition=9th
, publisher=Cengage Learning
, passage=An economic bad' is anything that you would pay to get rid of. It is not so hard to think of examples of ' bads : pollution, garbage, and disease fit the description.
}}
(rfm-sense) (slang) Fantastic.
(archaic) .
(British, dialect, transitive) To shell (a walnut).
* 1876 , The Gloucester Journal'', Oct. 7, 1876, reported in William John Thomas, Doran (John), Henry Frederick Turle, Joseph Knight, Vernon Horace Rendall, Florence Hayllar, ''Notes and Queries ,
As adjectives the difference between dumb and bad
is that dumb is unable to speak; lacking power of speech while bad is not good; unfavorable; negative.As verbs the difference between dumb and bad
is that dumb is to silence while bad is form of Alternative past tense|bid|lang=en. See {{l/en|bade|bade}}.As an adverb bad is
badly.As a noun bad is
error, mistake.dumb
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) dumb, from (etyl) . In ordinary spoken English, a phrase like "He is dumb" is interpreted as "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech". The latter example, however, is the original sense of the word. The senses of stupid'', ''unintellectual'', and ''pointless developed under the influence of the (etyl) word dumm.Adjective
(er)- to unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures
- dumb show
- This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
- to pierce into the dumb past
- You are so dumb ! You don't even know how to make toast!
- This is dumb ! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!
- Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.
- Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color.
Synonyms
* (unable to speak) dumbstruck, mute, speechless, wordless * (stupid) feeble-minded, idiotic, moronic, stupid * banal, brainless, dopey, silly, stupid, ridiculous, vulgarDerived terms
* dumb as a box of rocks * dumben * dumbhood * dummy * dumbnessEtymology 2
From (etyl) dumbien, from (etyl) dumbian (more commonly in compound .Verb
(en verb)- The paralysis of the Northern conscience, the dumbing of the Northern voice, were coming to an end.
- I think she's dumbing us down, so we won't be smarter than her.
- Bad-mouthing Neanderthals . . . is symptomatic of a need to exclude and even demonize. . . . I suggest that the unproven dumbing of the Neanderthals is an example of the same cultural preconception.
- The ensuing storm caused the department to lower the bar—amid protests that this was dumbing the test down—so that only 80 percent of urban kids would fail.
Derived terms
* dumbness * dumb blonde * dumb down * dumbocracy * dumb-show * dumb terminal * dummy * play dumbbad
English
(wikipedia bad)Etymology 1
From (etyl) bad, ).Adjective
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=He looked round the poor room, at the distempered walls, and the bad engravings in meretricious frames, the crinkly paper and wax flowers on the chiffonier; and he thought of a room like Father Bryan's, with panelling, with cut glass, with tulips in silver pots, such a room as he had hoped to have for his own.}}
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=“[…] if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. What I won't stand is to have them togs called a livery. […]”}}
- Lard is bad'''' for you. Smoking is '''bad''' for you, too. Grapes are '''bad for dogs but not for humans.
Usage notes
The comparative badder and superlative baddest are nonstandard.Synonyms
* (not good) unfavorable, negative * * (not suitable or fitting) * * wicked, evil, vile, vicious * (not functional) faulty * (of food) rotten * (of breath) malodorous, foul * badass * (of a need or want) severe, urgent, dire (to be assigned) * false * spurious * disgusting * wrong * corrupt * ill * base * abandoned * vicious * abominable * detestable * deficient * inferior * lousy * off * poor * punk * substandard * unacceptable * ungodly * unsatisfactory * wanting * wretched * See alsoAntonyms
* good * right * worthy * competent * benevolent * true * honest * just * sincere * beneficial * advantageous * profitable * virtuous * reputable * upright * propitious * choice * excellent * exceptional * first-class * first-rate * premium * prime * superior * adequate * sufficientSee also
* astray * base * bum * contemptible * defective * despicable * dirty * execrable * faulty * flawed * inadequate * insufficient * lacking * lesser * low-grade * mediocre * par * reprehensible * scurrilous * second-rate * under * unspeakable * useless * valueless * villainous * worthlessDerived terms
* bad actor * bad apple * bad beat * bad blood * bad boy * bad breath * bad check * bad debt * baddie * bad egg * bad ending * bad eye * bad fairy * bad faith * bad for you * bad guy * bad hair day * bad hat * bad iron * bad joke * bad language * bad light * bad lot * bad luck * bad man * bad-mannered * bad manners * bad medicine * bad money * bad-mouth * badness * bad news * bad off * bad penny * bad-tempered * Bad Thing * bad to the bone * go bad * not bad * too badAdverb
- I didn't do too bad in the last exam.
Noun
(-)- Sorry, my bad !
Etymology 2
Probably identical to bad , etymology 1, above, especially in the sense "bold, daring".Adjective
(badder)- You is (SIC) bad , man!
- Also Bek is "bad " at Madden.
Etymology 3
From (etyl) .Verb
(head)Etymology 4
Verb
(badd)page 346
- A curious specimen of Gloucestershire dialect c»me out in an assault case heard by the Gloucester court magistrates on Saturday. One of the witnesses, speaking of what a girl was doing at the time the assault took place, said she was ' badding' ' walnuts in a pigstye. The word is peculiarly provincial : to ' '''bad''' ' walnuts is to strip away the husk. The walnut, too, is often called » 'bannut,' and hence the old Gloucestershire phrase, ' Come an' ' bad the bannuts.'
