Ways to say it
| Russian | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| плохо́й | ploxój | |
| скве́рный | skvérnyj | |
| пога́ный | pogányj | colloquial |
| нехоро́ший | nexoróšij |
Russian uses different adjectives to express various shades of being bad or unfavorable. While плохо́й is the standard term, нехоро́ший is a litotes that literally means "not good" and is used to soften the impact of a negative statement. To describe unpleasant qualities such as a bad smell, a bad character or bad luck, use скве́рный.
Which one should you use?
плохо́й is the general term for bad, whereas нехоро́ший acts as a euphemism meaning "not good". For more intense or specific unpleasantness, скве́рный is used for nasty qualities like smells or luck. The term пога́ный carries a stronger connotation of being vile or disgusting compared to the standard плохо́й.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
пога́ный is colloquial and more intense. If you want to describe something of poor quality informally, you can use хреновый or use the slang term фиговый to describe something unfavorable.
How does it change in a sentence?
The default masculine form is плохо́й. If you are describing a neuter noun, use the form плохо́е.
How do you pronounce it?
ploxój
Did you know?
- The slang word фиговый comes from the word for 'fig', mirroring how 'fig' was used in antiquity as a gesture of contempt or worthlessness.
- The word пога́ный was once used to describe something 'unclean' or 'impure' in a ritualistic sense, which explains why it now feels much more visceral and disgusting than just 'bad'.
- Russian has a vast range of 'bad' adjectives, but using the word хреновый moves the conversation into a highly informal, borderline-vulgar register.
Examples in context
- У меня плохое настроениеI'm in a bad mood.
- Этот фильм просто отстойныйThis movie is just awful.
- У него хреновая машинаHe has a crappy car.
- Результаты нашего исследования оказались негативнымиThe results of our research turned out to be negative.
- У меня сегодня фиговый деньI'm having a bad day today.
- Мы пошли в отстойный ресторанWe went to a terrible restaurant.
Example conversation
Alexander and Anastasia are discussing a movie they just watched.
- Александр AleksandrКак тебе фильм?Kak tebe fil'm?How did you like the movie?
- Анастасия AnastasiaЧестно говоря, он очень плохо́й.Chestno govorya, on ochen plokhoy.To be honest, it's very bad.
- Александр AleksandrЯ согласен, сюжет был слабым.Ya soglasen, syuzhet byl slabym.I agree, the plot was weak.
- Анастасия AnastasiaЖаль, что мы потратили время.Zhal', chto my potratili vremya.It's a pity we wasted our time.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bad” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
