Meaning & use
bad apple
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountableinformal
a person who behaves badly and may have a bad influence on others in a group
Grammar: Countable; you can say a bad apple or several bad apples.
Patterns
- a bad apple
- one bad apple
- bad apples in something
Most of the team works hard, but there are a few bad apples who don't pull their weight.
The teacher warned that one bad apple can spoil the whole class.
The scandal was caused by a few bad apples, not by the entire organization.
Word forms
| plural | bad apples |
|---|
Common combinations
- one bad apple
- One bad apple can ruin the reputation of the whole group.
- a few bad apples
- The coach said a few bad apples were causing problems for the team.
- bad apple in the bunch
- He was considered the bad apple in the bunch and was eventually asked to leave.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rotten apple
- Similar meaning but stronger and more emphatic; it suggests someone who is thoroughly bad.
- troublemaker
- More direct and less idiomatic; it focuses on causing trouble rather than being a bad influence.
Opposites
Commonly confused: bad apple or bad actor?
bad apple vs bad actor
A bad actor is a formal term for a dishonest or harmful person or group, often in business or online; a bad apple is an informal term for a bad person within a group.
Practice
The manager said that most employees are honest, but there are always a few ______ who break the rules.
Choose one answer.
Bad apples is the plural form needed after a few. Bad apple is singular and would need a determiner like a; the possessive forms do not fit the sentence.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bad apple”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.