malo
bad
Reviewed by: David WestfallCofounder
Describes something or someone as bad
Encoding Strategies:
linguistic
Malo means bad and is the Spanish word mal0 turned into an adjective.
malo
bad, poor
Something of low quality, or that falls short of what it should be.
Es una película mala pero divertidaIt is a bad movie but it is fun
Tiene muy mala memoria para los nombresShe has a very poor memory for names
bad, evil, wicked (morals)
A person whose character or behavior is bad.
No confíes en él, es un hombre maloDo not trust him, he is a bad man
En la novela, el rey malo destruye pueblos enterosIn the novel, the evil king destroys entire villages
mean, nasty (toward others)
When someone treats another person badly.
No seas malo con tu hermanaDo not be mean to your sister
Fue muy mala conmigo delante de todosShe was very nasty to me in front of everyone
naughty, badly behaved (behavior)
A child or animal that behaves badly.
El niño fue malo toda la tardeThe boy was naughty all afternoon
Nuestro perro es malo cuando lo dejamos soloOur dog is badly behaved when we leave him alone
bad (at a skill)
When someone performs badly at something.
Soy muy malo para cocinarI am very bad at cooking
Es malo en matemáticas pero excelente en historiaHe is bad at math but excellent at history
bad, harmful (harmful)
Something that does harm to a person or thing.
Fumar es malo para la saludSmoking is bad for your health
El exceso de sol es malo para la pielToo much sun is harmful for the skin
bad, spoiled (food)
Food that has gone bad and is no longer safe to eat.
Esta leche está malaThis milk is bad
Tiramos el pescado porque estaba maloWe threw out the fish because it was spoiled
sick, ill (health)
When someone is in bad health.
Está malo desde anoche y no quiere comerHe has been sick since last night and does not want to eat
Cayó mala el lunes y no fue a trabajarShe fell ill on Monday and did not go to work
el malo
villain, bad guy
The bad character in a story or film. Adding el turns the adjective into a thing, so "bad" becomes "the bad one."
El malo de la película siempre pierde al finalThe villain of the movie always loses in the end
En este cuento, los malos roban el oro del puebloIn this story, the bad guys steal the town's gold
lo malo
the bad thing, the problem
The bad part of a situation. The lo is a vague "it" and malo describes that thing as bad, so it becomes the bad thing.
Lo malo de este trabajo es el horarioThe bad thing about this job is the schedule
Lo malo es que no tenemos tiempoThe problem is that we do not have time (the bad thing is that we do not have time)