badware

B3A1D2W4A1R1E1

noun

Malware.

OriginEnglish softwarebf. ← Middle English ware ← Old English waru →
UncommonScrabble 13
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Meanings

nounbadware (uncountable)
  1. uncountablecomputingMalware.

Origin

  1. Englishbad
  2. Proto-West Germanic*samft(ī)
  3. Old Englishsōfte
  4. Middle Englishsofte
  5. Englishsoft
  6. Proto-Germanic*warō
  7. Proto-West Germanic*waru
  8. Old Englishwaru
  9. Middle Englishware
  10. Englishsoftwarebf.
  11. Englishbadware

From bad + -ware.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

badware. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/badware

MLA

“badware.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/badware. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “badware,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/badware.

Source: badware on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.