"bad apple" meaning in English

See bad apple in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-au-bad apple.ogg [Australia] Forms: bad apples [plural]
Etymology: From the proverb “one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch” (or a variant thereof). Head templates: {{en-noun}} bad apple (plural bad apples)
  1. (idiomatic, often in the plural) A person who is not wholesome, honest, or trustworthy, especially one who has an adverse influence on others. Tags: idiomatic, in-plural, often Categories (topical): People Synonyms: rotten apple Derived forms: bad appling Related terms: bad egg Translations (person who is not wholesome): 害群之馬 (Chinese Mandarin), 害群之马 (hàiqúnzhīmǎ) (Chinese Mandarin), 老鼠屎 (lǎoshǔshǐ) (Chinese Mandarin), rotte appel [masculine] (Dutch), mätämuna (Finnish), mauvaise graine [feminine] (French), schwarzes Schaf [neuter] (German), Unheilstifter [masculine] (German), fauler Apfel [masculine] (German), faules Ei [neuter] (German), गंदी मछली (gandī machlī) (english: dirty fish) [feminine] (Hindi), mela marcia [feminine] (Italian), (gan) (english: cancer) (alt: がん) (Japanese), czarna owca [feminine] (Polish), maçã podre [feminine] (Portuguese), poamă rea [feminine] (Romanian), парши́вая овца́ (paršívaja ovcá) (english: scabby sheep) [feminine] (Russian), droch-isean [masculine] (Scottish Gaelic), čierna ovca (Slovak), manzana podrida [feminine] (Spanish), mal elemento [masculine] (Spanish), oveja negra [feminine] (Spanish), garbanzo negro [masculine] (Spanish), ruttet ägg (english: rotten egg) (Swedish), rötägg [neuter] (Swedish)

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for bad apple meaning in English (6.3kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "From the proverb “one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch” (or a variant thereof).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bad apples",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bad apple (plural bad apples)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "word": "bad appling"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1956 March 19, “Echoing Ring (book review of Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris)”, in Time, archived from the original on 2012-03-11",
          "text": "There is one bad apple, and that is Katie, the beautiful prostitute with whom Catcher Bruce is in love. Unlike the cliche harlot of fiction, she is as short of compassion as Bruce is of IQ.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 October 5, Steven Greenhouse, “Unions See Politics in New Disclosure Rules”, in New York Times",
          "text": "While most union leaders are people of integrity, there are still bad apples.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 January 27, Jeff Madrick, “Wall Street: More than few bad apples”, in New York Times",
          "text": "If anyone still harbors the fantasy that the business scandals of the past few years were the handiwork of just a few bad apples, they should read John Bogle's \"Battle for the Soul of Capitalism.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who is not wholesome, honest, or trustworthy, especially one who has an adverse influence on others."
      ],
      "id": "en-bad_apple-en-noun-PZ~Smtjb",
      "links": [
        [
          "wholesome",
          "wholesome"
        ],
        [
          "honest",
          "honest"
        ],
        [
          "trustworthy",
          "trustworthy"
        ],
        [
          "adverse",
          "adverse"
        ],
        [
          "influence",
          "influence"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, often in the plural) A person who is not wholesome, honest, or trustworthy, especially one who has an adverse influence on others."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "bad egg"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "rotten apple"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "in-plural",
        "often"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "word": "害群之馬"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "hàiqúnzhīmǎ",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "word": "害群之马"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "lǎoshǔshǐ",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "word": "老鼠屎"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "rotte appel"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "word": "mätämuna"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "mauvaise graine"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "schwarzes Schaf"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Unheilstifter"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "fauler Apfel"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "faules Ei"
        },
        {
          "code": "hi",
          "english": "dirty fish",
          "lang": "Hindi",
          "roman": "gandī machlī",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "गंदी मछली"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "mela marcia"
        },
        {
          "alt": "がん",
          "code": "ja",
          "english": "cancer",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "gan",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "word": "癌"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "czarna owca"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "maçã podre"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "poamă rea"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "english": "scabby sheep",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "paršívaja ovcá",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "парши́вая овца́"
        },
        {
          "code": "gd",
          "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "droch-isean"
        },
        {
          "code": "sk",
          "lang": "Slovak",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "word": "čierna ovca"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "manzana podrida"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "mal elemento"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "oveja negra"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "garbanzo negro"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "english": "rotten egg",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "word": "ruttet ägg"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "rötägg"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bad apple.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cf/En-au-bad_apple.ogg/En-au-bad_apple.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/En-au-bad_apple.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bad apple"
}
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "bad appling"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From the proverb “one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch” (or a variant thereof).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bad apples",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bad apple (plural bad apples)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "bad egg"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
        "en:People"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1956 March 19, “Echoing Ring (book review of Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris)”, in Time, archived from the original on 2012-03-11",
          "text": "There is one bad apple, and that is Katie, the beautiful prostitute with whom Catcher Bruce is in love. Unlike the cliche harlot of fiction, she is as short of compassion as Bruce is of IQ.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 October 5, Steven Greenhouse, “Unions See Politics in New Disclosure Rules”, in New York Times",
          "text": "While most union leaders are people of integrity, there are still bad apples.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006 January 27, Jeff Madrick, “Wall Street: More than few bad apples”, in New York Times",
          "text": "If anyone still harbors the fantasy that the business scandals of the past few years were the handiwork of just a few bad apples, they should read John Bogle's \"Battle for the Soul of Capitalism.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person who is not wholesome, honest, or trustworthy, especially one who has an adverse influence on others."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "wholesome",
          "wholesome"
        ],
        [
          "honest",
          "honest"
        ],
        [
          "trustworthy",
          "trustworthy"
        ],
        [
          "adverse",
          "adverse"
        ],
        [
          "influence",
          "influence"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, often in the plural) A person who is not wholesome, honest, or trustworthy, especially one who has an adverse influence on others."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "in-plural",
        "often"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-bad apple.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/cf/En-au-bad_apple.ogg/En-au-bad_apple.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/En-au-bad_apple.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "rotten apple"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "word": "害群之馬"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "hàiqúnzhīmǎ",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "word": "害群之马"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "lǎoshǔshǐ",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "word": "老鼠屎"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "rotte appel"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "word": "mätämuna"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "mauvaise graine"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "schwarzes Schaf"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Unheilstifter"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "fauler Apfel"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "faules Ei"
    },
    {
      "code": "hi",
      "english": "dirty fish",
      "lang": "Hindi",
      "roman": "gandī machlī",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "गंदी मछली"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "mela marcia"
    },
    {
      "alt": "がん",
      "code": "ja",
      "english": "cancer",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "gan",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "word": "癌"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "czarna owca"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "maçã podre"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "poamă rea"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "english": "scabby sheep",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "paršívaja ovcá",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "парши́вая овца́"
    },
    {
      "code": "gd",
      "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "droch-isean"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "word": "čierna ovca"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "manzana podrida"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "mal elemento"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "oveja negra"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "garbanzo negro"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "english": "rotten egg",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "word": "ruttet ägg"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "person who is not wholesome",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "rötägg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bad apple"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.