malo
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bad
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villain
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Dictionary
Examples
Pronunciation
Phrases
Usage note
Before singular masculine nouns, "malo" becomes "mal."
malo(
mah
-
loh
)
An adjective is a word that describes a noun (e.g. the big dog).
adjective
1. (in quality)
a. bad
Si el vino que usas es malo, la salsa saldrá ácida.If the wine you use is bad, the sauce will turn out acidic.
b. poor
Pedro tiene tan mala letra que los profesores nunca le entienden lo que escribe.Pedro has such poor handwriting that teachers can never make out what he writes.
2. (in morals)
a. bad
Aléjate de él. Es un hombre malo.Stay away from him. He's a bad man.
b. evil
Algunas personas son malas por naturaleza.Some people are naturally evil.
3. (sickly)
a. sick
Está malo desde anoche. Vamos a llamar al médico.He's been sick since last night. We're going to call the doctor.
b. ill
Caí mala el lunes y estuve en cama toda la semana.I fell ill on Monday and was in bed all week.
4. (incompetent)
a. bad
Soy muy mala para cocinar.I'm really bad at cooking.
5. (harmful)
a. bad
Beber en exceso es malo para la salud.Drinking too much is bad for your health.
6. (unpleasant)
a. bad
Hoy el clima está muy malo.The weather is very bad today.
7. (poorly-behaved)
a. bad
De niña era una estudiante muy mala.As a kid she was a very bad student.
b. naughty
Era un cachorro tan malo que tuvimos que regalarlo.He was such a naughty puppy that we had to give him away.
8. (nasty)
a. mean
No seas tan malo con tu hermana. Déjala jugar contigo.Don't be so mean to your sister. Let her play with you.
9. (rotten)
a. bad
Esta carne ya está mala.This meat has gone bad.
This means that the noun can be masculine or feminine, depending on the gender of person it refers to (e.g. el doctor, la doctora).
masculine or feminine noun
10. (bad person)
a. villain
Ella es la mala de la película.She's the movie's villain.
b. baddy
A word or phrase that is commonly used in conversational speech (e.g. skinny, grandma).
(colloquial)
La protagonista se enamora de uno de los malos.The protagonist falls in love with one of the baddies.
Copyright © Curiosity Media Inc.
malo, -a
Mal is used instead of malo before singular masculine nouns (e.g. un mal ejemplo a bad example). The comparative form of malo (= worse) is peor, the superlative forms (= the worst) are el peor (masculine) and la peor (feminine).
adjective
1. bad (en general) ; poor, bad (calidad)
  • ser de mala calidad to be poor quality
  • lo malo, -a es que… the problem is (that)…
  • mala palabra swearword (Am)
2. naughty (travieso) ; wicked, evil (malicioso, malvado)
  • ¡no seas malo, -a y obedece! be good and do as I say!
3. ill, sick (enfermo)
  • estar/ponerse malo, -a to be/fall ill
  • poner malo, -a a alguien (figurative) to drive somebody mad
4. bad (desagradable)
  • mal tiempo bad weather
  • hace mal tiempo the weather's bad
5. bad, off (podrido, pasado)
  • estar/ponerse malo, -a to be o go off
6. (uso enfático)
  • ni un mal trozo de pan not even a crust of bread
  • no había ni un mal bar en el pueblo there wasn't a single bar to be found in the village
masculine or feminine noun
7. (Cine)
  • el malo, -a the villain, the baddie
malas
plural feminine noun
also:
  • ponerse a (las) malas con to fall out with
  • estar de malas to be in a bad mood
  • por las malas by force
Copyright © 2006 Harrap Publishers Limited
maloa mala
adjective
mal
1 (perjudicial) bad
es malo para la salud it's bad for your health
las heladas son malas para los cultivos
más vale lo malo conocido (que lo bueno por conocer) better the devil you know (than the devil you don't)
2 (imperfecto) bad
esta película es bastante mala this is a pretty bad film; un chiste malísimo a really bad joke; a terrible joke; este papel es malo para escribir this paper is bad for writing; mala calidad poor quality; es una tela muy mala it's a very poor-quality material; joyas malas fake jewels
ni un(a) mal(a) ...
no hay ni un mal bar para tomar algo there isn't a single little bar where we can get a drink
Partido aburrido: Ni una tarjeta, ni una patada, ni un gol, ni un mal tiro a puerta
3 (adverso) bad
he tenido mala suerte I've had bad luck; I've been unlucky; eso es una mala señal that's a bad sign; —es tarde y no ha llamado —¡malo! "it's late and she hasn't called" — "oh dear!"; malo sería que no ganáramos it would be a disaster if we didn't win; lo malo es que ... the trouble is (that) ...
pata
4 (desagradable) bad
un mal día a bad day; el tiempo estuvo muy malo todo el verano we had really bad weather all summer; un olor muy malo a bad o nasty smell
5 (podrido)
esta carne está mala this meat's off
6 (reprobable) wrong
¿qué tiene de malo? what's wrong with that?; ¿qué tiene de malo comer helados en invierno? what's wrong with eating ice cream in winter?; van por mal camino they'll come to no good if they carry on like this; es una mala persona he's a bad person; una bruja mala a wicked witch
tener mala idea lo hicieron con mala idea
arte idea leche lengua manera pasada trato uva
7 (travieso) naughty
¡no seas malo! don't be naughty!
no seas malo y devuélvemelo
8 (enfermo) ill
mi hija está mala my daughter's ill; tienes muy mala cara you look awful o really ill; se puso malo después de comer he started to feel ill after lunch; me puse malo de reírme I nearly died laughing; tengo mala la garganta I've got a sore throat
9 (inepto) bad
ser malo para algo to be bad at sth; soy muy mala para la física I'm very bad at physics
10 (difícil) hard; difficult
es un animal malo de domesticar it's a hard o difficult animal to tame
una herida mala de curar
es muy malo de vencer he's very hard o difficult to beat
11
a la mala (Latinoamérica) (a la fuerza) by force; forcibly; (de forma traicionera) treacherously
andar a malas con algn to be on bad terms with sb
ponerse a malas con algn to fall out with sb
los dos se pusieron a malas
estar de malas (de mal humor) to be in a bad mood; (sin suerte) to be out of luck
venir de malas to have evil intentions
por las malas by force; willy-nilly
(personaje) (Teat) villain; (Cine) baddie (familiar)
el malo de la película
el malo (Religión) the Evil One; the Devil
Collins Complete Spanish Electronic Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
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Examples
'malo' in our machine translators
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