bad news travels fast

proverb

Bad news circulates quickly because people often circulate it everywhere.

Similar
ill news spreads apace
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Meanings

proverb
  1. Bad news circulates quickly because people often circulate it everywhere.

    In small towns, as the saying goes, bad news travels fast. St. Charles, Idaho was no exception. Recent going's on eventually makes their way to people one might not expect.

    2012, J.W. James III, North Beach Road, →ISBN, page 66
    2 more examples

    After all, reorganizations, personnel changes, new policies on subjects such as travel and expense reports, are everyday occurrences, but the rumor that the Vice President of Sales has a son at college who was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, aha! That is another matter. That is news! Once put out on the grapevine, it will travel with blinding speed around the circuit. Bad news travels fast.

    1992, Robert L. Genua, Managing Your Mouth: An Owner's Manual for Your Most Important Business Asset, →ISBN

    Bad news travels fast, especially when it travels by satellite. I had picked up the receiver with a sense of dread. I expected to hear on the other end an obscene caller, a local news person looking for fresh dirt, a concerned but nosy friend.

    2011, Wendy Hornsby, Bad Intent, →ISBN

    Synonyms: ill news spreads apace

Synonyms & antonyms

proverbBad news circulates quickly because people often circulate it everywhere.

Similar
ill news spreads apace
Also see
ill news spreads apace

Translations

Arabic الأخبار السيئة تنتشر بسرعة
  • الأخبار السيئة تنتشر بسرعةTranslations
Chinese Mandarin 壞事傳千里 /坏事传千里
  • 壞事傳千里 /坏事传千里Translations
Finnish huonot uutiset kiirivät nopeasti
  • huonot uutiset kiirivät nopeastiTranslations
German schlechte Nachrichten verbreiten sich schnell
  • schlechte Nachrichten verbreiten sich schnellTranslations
Japanese 悪事千里を走る
  • 悪事千里を走る (akuji senri o hashiru)Translations
Korean 발 없는 말이 천 리 간다
  • 발 없는 말이 천 리 간다 (bal eomneun mar-i cheon ri ganda)Translations
Polish złe wieści szybko się rozchodzą
  • złe wieści szybko się rozchodząTranslations
Portuguese as más notícias viajam depressam
  • as más notícias viajam depressamTranslations
Vietnamese tiếng dữ đồn xa
  • tiếng dữ đồn xaTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

bad news travels fast. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20news%20travels%20fast

MLA

“bad news travels fast.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20news%20travels%20fast. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bad news travels fast,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20news%20travels%20fast.

Source: bad news travels fast on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.