pessimo
/ˈpɛs.si.mo/
In Italian, the phrase "very bad" is expressed as pessimo.
pessimo is an adjective used to describe something of extremely poor quality or a very unpleasant experience. It carries a stronger negative connotation and is suitable for more severe situations. Other ways to express negativity in Italian include molto brutto for a straightforward "very bad", terribile to emphasize extreme negativity, bruttissimo to intensify the negativity of "brutto", orrendo to express extreme distaste or disgust and scadente to describe poor quality or subpar performance.
Which one should you use?
While you can say molto cattivo to literally mean "very bad", pessimo is the superlative form used to express that something is of the worst possible quality.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form of the adjective changes to match the gender and number of the noun it describes: use pessima for feminine singular nouns, pessimi for masculine plural nouns and pessime for feminine plural nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
pessimo is pronounced /ˈpɛs.si.mo/. It has 3 syllables and the stress is on the 1st syllable.
Did you know?
- The word shares a common ancestor with the English word 'pessimism', which is the belief that the worst possible outcome will occur.
- To describe a 'bad' person in terms of morality, Italians avoid pessimo and use cattivo, as pessimo focuses on quality or performance rather than evil.
- Because pessimo functions as an absolute superlative, adding the word 'molto' (very) to it is grammatically redundant, much like saying 'most worst'.
Examples in context
- Il servizio era pessimo.The service was very bad.This sentence is useful for showing how to describe a service that was very bad using pessimo.Tatoeba #4096575 by Guybrush88, translation #1640121 by Spamster
- Ho ricevuto una molto brutta notizia oggi.I received some very bad news today.
- È stata una pessima idea.It was a terrible idea.
- Ho avuto una giornata terribile.I had a terrible day.
- Quel film è stato bruttissimo.That movie was awful.
- Hai visto il suo vestito? Era orrendo!Did you see her dress? It was dreadful!
- Il servizio era davvero scadente.The service was really poor.
- Il tempo oggi è pessimo.The weather today is very bad.
- Abbiamo ricevuto un pessimo punteggio.We received a very bad score.
Example conversation
Giulia and Francesco are discussing a movie they recently watched.
- GiuliaHai visto quel nuovo film?Did you see that new movie?
- FrancescoSì, è stato pessimo.Yes, it was very bad.
- GiuliaDavvero? La trama era noiosa?Really? Was the plot boring?
- FrancescoSì, era davvero un film pessimo.Yes, it was truly a very bad movie.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry pessimo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
