Meanings
- uncountableThe misrepresentation of one's own true motive.
bad-faith interpretation
2 more examples
Near-synonyms: dishonesty, insincerity, bloody-mindedness
A dormant and defunded CPB could have become vulnerable to future political manipulation or misuse, threatening the independence of public media and the trust audiences place in it, and potentially subjecting staff and board members to legal exposure from bad-faith actors.”
2026 January 5, Michael Schneider, “Corporation for Public Broadcasting to Shut Down After 58 Years Due to Trump Eliminating Funding”, in Variety, archived from the original on 07 Jan 2026Synonyms: dishonesty, insincerity, bloody-mindedness · Antonyms: good faith
- uncountablelawAn intent to deceive or mislead another to gain some advantage; dishonesty or fraud in a transaction (such as knowingly misrepresenting the quality of something that is being bought or sold).
Synonyms: Punic faith
- uncountablelawA malicious motive by a party in a lawsuit, which has an effect on the ability to maintain causes of action and obtain legal remedies.
- uncountablehuman sciencesThe existentialist concept of denying one's total freedom of will.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe misrepresentation of one's own true motive.
nounAn intent to deceive or mislead another to gain some advantage; dishonesty or fraud in a transaction (such as knowingly misrepresenting the quality of something that is being bought or sold).
Origin
- Frenchmauvaise foi
- Englishbad faith
* (philosophy): a semantic loan from French mauvaise foi, coined by existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch kwade trouw
- kwade trouwintent to deceive or mislead
Finnish vilpillinen mieli, vilpillinen mieli
- vilpillinen mieliintent to deceive or mislead
- vilpillinen mielimalicious motive by a party in a lawsuit
- huono uskoexistentialist concept of denying one's total freedom of will
French mauvaise foi, mauvaise foi
- mauvaise foiintent to deceive or mislead
- mauvaise foimalicious motive by a party in a lawsuit
- mauvaise foiexistentialist concept of denying one's total freedom of will
German böser Glaube, Bösgläubigkeit
- böser Glaubeintent to deceive or mislead
- Bösgläubigkeitintent to deceive or mislead
- böse Absichtintent to deceive or mislead
Irish feall
- feallintent to deceive or mislead
Latin mala fides
- mala fidesmalicious motive by a party in a lawsuit
Malay niat jahat
- niat jahatmalicious motive by a party in a lawsuit
Polish zła wiara, zła wiara
- zła wiaraintent to deceive or mislead
- zła wiaramalicious motive by a party in a lawsuit
- zła wiaraexistentialist concept of denying one's total freedom of will
Portuguese má-fé
- má-féintent to deceive or mislead
Vietnamese ác ý, ngụy tín
- ác ýintent to deceive or mislead
- ngụy tínexistentialist concept of denying one's total freedom of will
Welsh annidwylledd
- annidwylleddintent to deceive or mislead
Cite this entry
bad faith. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20faith
“bad faith.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20faith. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bad faith,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20faith.
Source: bad faith on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.