Bad vs. Wad — What's the Difference?

Not achieving an adequate standard; poor

Wad is an old mining term for any black manganese oxide or hydroxide mineral-rich rock in the oxidized zone of various ore deposits. Typically closely associated with various iron oxides.

Immoral or evil.

A small mass of soft material, often folded or rolled, used for padding, stuffing, or packing.

Vulgar or obscene

A compressed ball, roll, or lump, as of tobacco or chewing gum.

Disobedient or naughty

A plug, as of cloth or paper, used to retain a powder charge in a muzzleloading gun or cannon.

Disagreeable, unpleasant, or disturbing

A disk, as of felt or paper, used to keep the powder and shot in place in a shotgun cartridge.

Unfavorable

(Informal) A large amount

Not fresh; rotten or spoiled

A sizable roll of paper money.

Injurious in effect; detrimental

A considerable amount of money.

Not working properly; defective

Vulgar Slang An ejaculation of semen.

Full of or exhibiting faults or errors

To compress into a wad

Having no validity; void

To pad, pack, line, or plug with wadding

Being so far behind in repayment as to be considered a loss

To hold (shot or powder) in place with a wad.

Severe; intense

To insert a wad into (a firearm).

Being in poor health or in pain

An amorphous, compact mass.

Being in poor condition; diseased

A substantial pile (normally of money).

Sorry; regretful

A soft plug or seal, particularly as used between the powder and pellets in a shotgun cartridge, or earlier on the charge of a muzzleloader or cannon.

Bad·der, bad·dest Slang Very good; great.

(slang) A sandwich.

Something that is below standard or expectations, as of ethics or decency

An ejaculation of semen.

Badly.

(dialect) Plumbago, graphite.

A past tense of bid.

(mineralogy) Any black manganese oxide or hydroxide mineral rich rock in the oxidized zone of various ore deposits.

Unfavorable; negative; not good.

To crumple or crush into a compact, amorphous shape or ball.

Not suitable or fitting.

(Ulster) To wager.

Not appropriate, of manners etc.

To insert or force a wad into.

Unhealthy; liable to cause health problems.

To stuff or line with some soft substance, or wadding, like cotton.

(chiefly applied to a person's state of health) Sickly, unhealthy, unwell.

Woad.

Not behaving; behaving badly; misbehaving; mischievous or disobedient.

A little mass, tuft, or bundle, as of hay or tow.

Tricky; stressful; unpleasant.

Specifically: A little mass of some soft or flexible material, such as hay, straw, tow, paper, or old rope yarn, used for retaining a charge of powder in a gun, or for keeping the powder and shot close; also, to diminish or avoid the effects of windage. Also, by extension, a dusk of felt, pasteboard, etc., serving a similar purpose.

Evil; wicked.

A soft mass, especially of some loose, fibrous substance, used for various purposes, as for stopping an aperture, padding a garment, etc.

Faulty; not functional.

An earthy oxide of manganese, or mixture of different oxides and water, with some oxide of iron, and often silica, alumina, lime, or baryta; black ocher. There are several varieties.

(of food) Spoiled, rotten, overripe.

To form into a mass, or wad, or into wadding; as, to wad tow or cotton.

(of breath) Malodorous; foul.

To insert or crowd a wad into; as, to wad a gun; also, to stuff or line with some soft substance, or wadding, like cotton; as, to wad a cloak.

False; counterfeit; illegitimate.

(often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent;

Unskilled; of limited ability; not good.

A wad of something chewable as tobacco

Of poor physical appearance.

Compress into a wad;

(informal) Bold and daring.

Crowd or pack to capacity;

(slang) Good, superlative, excellent, cool.

Severe, urgent.

Overly promiscuous, licentious.

Very attractive; hot, sexy.

Not covered by funds on account.

Badly.

Something that is bad; a harm or evil.

Error; mistake.

An item (or kind of item) of merchandise with negative value; an unwanted good. Bad (economics)

Used to scold a misbehaving child or pet.

(archaic) bid.

To shell (a walnut).

Bade.

Wanting good qualities, whether physical or moral; injurious, hurtful, inconvenient, offensive, painful, unfavorable, or defective, either physically or morally; evil; vicious; wicked; - the opposite of good; as, a bad man; bad conduct; bad habits; bad soil; bad air; bad health; a bad crop; bad news.

That which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency;

Having undesirable or negative qualities;

Very intense;

Feeling physical discomfort or pain (`tough' is occasionally used colloquially for `bad');

(of foodstuffs) not in an edible or usable condition;

Not capable of being collected;

Below average in quality or performance;

Nonstandard;

Not financially safe or secure;

Physically unsound or diseased;

Capable of harming;

Keenly sorry or regretful;

Characterized by wickedness or immorality;

Reproduced fraudulently;

Not working properly;

With great intensity (`bad' is a nonstandard variant for `badly');

Very much; strongly;