phrasal verb / informal idiom · informal
break bad
/breɪk bæd/BREAK·BAD
speakingtask2
to start behaving in a dangerous or criminal way; to turn to wrongdoing (informal).
Examples
“After losing his job he began to break bad and got involved with the wrong crowd.”
“If a community starts to break bad, crime rates can rise quickly.”
“The character in the series slowly breaks bad as pressure mounts.”
Band 8 sentence
“If neglected communities begin to break bad, policymakers must address root causes rather than just punish offenders.”
Collocations
- break bad and
- began to break bad
Word family
break bad verb phrasebroke bad verb phrase (past)breaking bad verb phrase (gerund)
Common mistakes
become bad→break bad
break badly→break bad
Say it for a higher band
5become bad→6turn bad→7+break bad
Synonyms
turn to crime
go wrong
Easily confused
turn to crime
“He turned to crime after he lost his job.”
Related words
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In break …
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