See also: Schlecht

German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German sleht, from Old High German sleht (see also schlicht), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz. Cognate with English slight, Dutch slecht, Afrikaans sleg, Icelandic sléttur, Faroese slættur, Swedish slätt, Danish slet , Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (slaihts), and Norwegian slett.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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schlecht (strong nominative masculine singular schlechter, comparative schlechter, superlative am schlechtesten)

  1. bad, evil, wicked (the opposite of good; immoral)
    ein schlechter Menscha bad person
  2. bad (unskilled; of limited ability)
    sie ist schlecht in Matheshe is bad at maths
  3. bad (unhealthy, unwell)
    schlecht für jemanden seinto be bad for someone
  4. bad (of poor physical appearance)
    schlecht aussehento look bad
  5. bad, off (spoiled, rotten, overripe)
    schlecht werdento go off, to go bad
  6. dirty (dishonourable)

Usage notes

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schlecht and schlimm could be considered synonyms, but there is a difference in connotation. Use schlecht for "bad" in situations where judgment is involved, implying a certain level of objectivity ("bad job, bad idea, bad manners, bad quality").

Use schlimm to mean "bad" when a negative consequence is implied and it negatively affects a person or creature ("bad accident, bad cold, bad injury").

Sometimes you can use either word. For example, you could say "schlechter Traum" or "schlimmer Traum" for 'bad dream'. The connotation of using "schlechter" would imply the 'bad dream' wasn't that harmful after waking up (like, 'it was just a bad dream. I'm fine.'); whereas, using "schlimmer" would imply that the 'bad dream' had a lasting impact even after waking up, kind of like saying 'awful dream'. Same with "schlechter Tag" and "schlimmer Tag" ('bad day'). "schlimmer Tag" would be closer to 'awful day' in the sense that it implies the negative consequences of the bad day will carry over to tomorrow.

Declension

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Derived terms

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Adverb

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schlecht

  1. badly, poorly, not well (in a bad or poor manner)
  2. with difficulty, not easily

See also

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Further reading

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Hunsrik

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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schlecht (comparative schlechter, superlative schlechtest)

  1. bad, evil, wicked

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Luxembourgish

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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schlecht (masculine schlechten, neuter schlecht, comparative méi schlecht, superlative am schlechtsten)

  1. bad

Declension

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Adverb

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schlecht

  1. badly

Pennsylvania German

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Etymology

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Compare German schlecht, Dutch slecht.

Adjective

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schlecht

  1. bad
  2. wicked

Adverb

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schlecht

  1. poorly