my bad

What is the opposite of my bad? Here is what we hold, with its meaning and related words.

Phrase — A casual admission that you made a mistake.

We haven't recorded synonyms for my bad yet. You can still read its full definition, where it comes from, or words that rhyme with it.

How to use my bad

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

oh, my bad totally my bad that was my bad

Informal spoken English; avoid in formal or written apologies.

Etymology

Pick-up basketball slang popularized (but not first coined) by Manute Bol, a basketball player of Sudanese origin playing with the Golden State Warriors, and subsequently adopted by teammates. Compare semantics with Russian оплошность (oplošnostʹ, “mistake, bad”), from о- (o-) + плох (plox, “bad”).

Full origin of my bad →

Frequently asked questions

Is 'my bad' rude?

Not rude, but very casual. It works among friends and colleagues for small slips, and it can sound dismissive if the mistake was serious, where a full apology is expected instead.

Is 'my bad' grammatically correct?

It is a fixed idiom rather than ordinary grammar, using the adjective 'bad' as if it were a noun. It is accepted in informal English and is not a mistake, but it does not belong in formal writing.

What can I say instead of 'my bad' at work?

'That was my mistake', 'apologies, that was on me' or simply 'sorry, I'll fix it' all carry the same admission with more weight. Naming the fix matters more than the wording.

Nearby words

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