good-bad

adjective

Enjoyably schlocky, poor in quality but nonetheless compelling.

Meanings

adjectivegood-bad (comparative more good-bad, superlative most good-bad)

comparative more good-bad · superlative most good-bad

  1. broadcastingEnjoyably schlocky, poor in quality but nonetheless compelling.

    Is Showgirls good-bad or just bad-bad?

    2015 July 6, David Fear et al, “25 Best Modern Exploitation Movies”, in Rolling Stone
    4 more examples

    The existence of good bad literature—the fact that one can be amused or excited or even moved by a book that one's intellect simply refuses to take seriously—is a reminder that art is not the same thing as cerebration.

    1945 November 2, George Orwell, “Good Bad Books”, in Tribune

    “Road House” exists right on the edge between the “good-bad movie” and the merely bad. I hesitate to recommend it, because so much depends on the ironic vision of the viewer. This is not a good movie.

    1989 May 19, Roger Ebert, “Road House”, in RogerEbert.com

    Touch of Evil is not a good movie, but it is a good bad movie, which is more fun than the mediocre or even the adequate.

    2014, Sarah Nilsen, Projecting America, 1958, McFarland

    The Shoes of the Fisherman is a good-bad film that owes no duty to history or to what were then current affairs.

    2019 November 29, Donald Clarke, “The Two Popes: one giant leap of faith”, in The Irish Times

Origin

Attributed to G. K. Chesterton.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

good-bad. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/good-bad

MLA

“good-bad.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/good-bad. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “good-bad,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/good-bad.

Source: good-bad on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.