Meanings
present singular third person breaks bad · participle present breaking bad · past broke bad · participle past broken bad
- colloquialTo go wrong; to go downhill.First known use 1908
Half the bad men are only coltish cowpunchers gone wrong through rotten whiskey and luck breaking bad for them.
1913, William MacLeod Raine, Crooked trials and straight, page 1341 more example
"A woman came out from the East—Vermont, it was—and school-teaching was her line of business, only she hadn't been raised to it, and this was her first clatter at the game; but things had broke bad for her people, and ended in her pulling stakes and coming West all alone.
1908, Rex Beach, The barrier, page 212 - Midwestern USSouthern UScolloquialespeciallyTo go bad; to turn toward immorality or crime.
My nephew was breaking bad, getting deeper into the crack trade, […]
2012, John Grisham, The Racketeer, →ISBN2 more examples
But somehow he broke bad when he was just a yearling boy, started running around at night with a bad crowd, drinking beer and wine, and fighting and getting in all kinds of trouble and wouldn't go to school.
2005, Will D. Campbell, The Glad River, →ISBN, page 18Nah, come on, man! Some straight like you, giant stick up his ass, all of a sudden at age, what, sixty, he's just gonna break bad?
2008, “Pilot”, in Breaking Bad, spoken by Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul)Synonyms: go bad, go astray · Antonyms: turn over a new leaf
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo go bad; to turn toward immorality or crime.
Translations
Basque maldan behera joan
- maldan behera joanto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Bengali মন্দে পরিণত হওয়া
- মন্দে পরিণত হওয়া (monde porinot hōẇa)to go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Chinese Mandarin 變壞 /变坏
- 變壞 /变坏 (biànhuài)to go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Dutch van het rechte pad afwijken
- van het rechte pad afwijkento go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Finnish mennä pieleen
- mennä pieleento go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
French mal tourner
- mal tournerto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
German auf die schiefe Bahn geraten
- auf die schiefe Bahn geratento go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Japanese 道を外す
- 道を外す (michi o hazusu)to go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Polish schodzić na złą drogę, zejść na złą drogę
- schodzić na złą drogęto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
- zejść na złą drogęto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Portuguese chutar o balde
- chutar o baldeto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Russian пусти́ться во все тя́жкие, сби́ться с пути́
- пусти́ться во все тя́жкие (pustítʹsja vo vse tjážkije)to go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
- сби́ться с пути́ (sbítʹsja s putí)to go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
- испо́ртиться (ispórtitʹsja)to go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Spanish irse cuesta abajo, descarriarse
- irse cuesta abajoto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
- descarriarseto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
- desvirtuarseto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
- echarse a perderto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Turkish iş çığırından çıkmak, kötüye gitmek
- iş çığırından çıkmakto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
- kötüye gitmekto go wrong, to turn toward immorality or crime
Cite this entry
break bad. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20bad
“break bad.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20bad. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “break bad,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20bad.
Source: break bad on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.