bad egg

noun
1.
a person who is bad, dishonest, or unreliable; a good-for-nothing:
a bad egg who had served several years in prison.
Origin
1850-55, Americanism
Examples from the web for bad egg
  • Heading off to college is tough enough without getting paired with a bad egg for a roommate.
  • People have well rural that now natural with bad egg.
  • Well one bad egg often ruined that for the whole bunch.
Contemporary definitions for bad egg
noun

a corrupt or evil person, cf. good egg

noun

See good egg

Slang definitions & phrases for bad egg

bad egg

noun phrase

A villain, criminal, or other deplorable person; bad actor, baddie (1855+)


Idioms and Phrases with bad egg

bad egg

An individual who turns out to be rotten, as in You can't trust him—he's simply a bad egg . Although egg had been used for various kinds of person (young, good, bad) since Shakespeare's day, this transfer of a seemingly wholesome food that, when opened, turns out to be rotten took place only in the mid-1800s. An early definition appeared in The Atheneum of 1864: “A bad egg ... a fellow who had not proved to be as good as his promise.” In contrast, the schoolyard saying Last one in is a rotten egg does not have any special significance other than as a way of urging others to join an activity, jump in the water, or the like. Also see good egg