cattivo
/katˈti.vo/
The Italian word for bad is cattivo.
cattivo is an adjective used to describe something as unfavorable or negative. Depending on the context, it can also mean evil. To describe someone being in a bad mood, use the fixed idiomatic expression di cattivo umore.
Meaning: unfavorable, negative (adj)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Use the masculine singular cattivo, the feminine singular cattiva, the masculine plural cattivi for a group of males or a mixed-gender group and the feminine plural cattive for a group of females.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 3 syllables with the stress on the 2nd syllable: /katˈti.vo/.
Did you know?
- The word cattivo shares its history with the English word 'captive', as it originally described someone caught or taken prisoner.
- While cattivo describes a 'bad' person, Italians use the word male to describe a 'bad' performance or a result. For example, you would say a game ended male rather than cattivo.
- In Italian, calling a child cattivo often means they are being 'naughty' or 'mischievous' rather than truly evil.
Examples in context
- Il vino è cattivo.The wine's bad.This sentence shows how to use cattivo to describe the quality of wine.Tatoeba #10451589 by Guybrush88, translation #10101067 by ddnktr
- È di cattivo umore.He is in a bad mood.This sentence uses cattivo within the idiom for being in a bad mood.Tatoeba #1280556 by Guybrush88, translation #295082 by CK
- È di cattivo umore?Are you in a bad mood?This sentence demonstrates a question using the idiom for being in a bad mood.Tatoeba #2721053 by Guybrush88, translation #2120756 by LanguageExpert
- Questa notizia ha un impatto negativo sulla societàThis news has a negative impact on society.
- Quel film è proprio brutto!That movie is really bad!
- Il loro servizio clienti è davvero schifoso!Their customer service is truly awful!
- 160 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Martina and Lorenzo are discussing a movie they just watched.
- MartinaChe film terribile, il finale è stato proprio cattivo.What a terrible movie, the ending was really bad.
- LorenzoSono d'accordo, è stato un pessimo investimento di tempo.I agree, it was a bad investment of time.
- MartinaSperiamo che il prossimo sia meno cattivo.Let's hope the next one is less bad.
- LorenzoSperiamo, Lorenzo non vuole più vedere questo regista.I hope so, Lorenzo doesn't want to see this director anymore.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bad” translations and entries cattivo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cattivo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
