What does malo in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word malo in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use malo in Spanish.

The word malo in Spanish means bad, wicked, bad, bad, adverse, harmful, bad, damaging, sick, ill, bad, naughty, bad guy, what's wrong with...?, get sick, mean face, bad intent, the bad guy, the villain of the piece, through thick and thin, evil is everywhere, evil is all around, the best, worse than hunger, meaner than hunger, meaner than a junkyard dog, better the devil you know than the devil you don't, fall ill, get sick, get ill, drive mad, all extremes are bad. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word malo

bad, wicked

adjetivo (maligno, perverso)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Jaime es un hombre malo.
Jaime is a bad man.

bad

adjetivo (no hábil, no apto)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Una persona mala para las matemáticas no puede estudiar ingeniería.
Anyone who's bad at math can't study engineering.

bad, adverse

adjetivo (negativo, adverso)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Ha sido un año malo para la aviación.
It's been a bad (or: adverse) year for aviation.

harmful, bad, damaging

adjetivo (que causa daño, nocivo)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Fumar es malo para la salud.
Smoking is bad for your health.

sick, ill

adjetivo (informal (enfermo, indispuesto)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Mi marido está malo y no ha ido a trabajar.
My husband's sick (or: ill) and hasn't been into work.

bad, naughty

adjetivo (informal (travieso)

(adjective: Describes a noun or pronoun--for example, "a tall girl," "an interesting book," "a big house.")
Eres un perro muy malo.
You are a very bad (or: naughty) dog.

bad guy

nombre masculino, nombre femenino (antagonista)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
El héroe llegó y acabó con todos los malos.
The hero arrived and wiped out all the bad guys.

what's wrong with...?

expresión (¿qué problema hay?)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
¿Qué hay de malo con los tatuajes?
What's wrong with tattoos?

get sick

locución verbal (coloquial (enfermar) (US)

También es mala suerte caer malo durante las vacaciones.

mean face

locución nominal femenina (gesto avieso)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Horacio tiene cara de malo pero en realidad es muy buena persona.
Horacio has a mean face but he's really a nice guy.

bad intent

locución nominal masculina (der: mala intención contra alguien)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

the bad guy

locución nominal con flexión de género (antagonista del bueno)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Con esa escena, quedó claro que Alberto era el malo de la película. Clint Eastwood nunca ha sido el malo de la película.
Clint Eastwood has never been the bad guy.

the villain of the piece

locución nominal con flexión de género (figurado, informal (culpable de todo)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Julia siempre me hace sentir como el malo de la película. La que hace las cosas mal es mi hermana, pero la mala de la película termino siendo yo.
Julia always makes me feel like the villain of the piece.

through thick and thin

expresión (vaya como vaya todo)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Diego es mi mejor amigo: me ha acompañado en las buenas y en las malas.
Diego is my best friend: he's stuck by me through thick and thin.

evil is everywhere, evil is all around

expresión (lo bueno es escaso)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Ya sabes como es, lo malo abunda.
You know what it's like; evil is all around.

the best

expresión (el menor de los males)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Conviene ver lo menos malo en todas las situaciones.
It's good to see the best in all situations.

worse than hunger, meaner than hunger

expresión (muy malo) (figurative)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

meaner than a junkyard dog

locución adjetiva (ES: coloquial (persona: mala, ruin) (colloquial)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Pedro no tiene corazón: es más malo que la quina.
Pedro is heartless: he's meaner than a junkyard dog.

better the devil you know than the devil you don't

expresión (temor a lo desconocido)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
No quiero otro jefe, mejor malo conocido que bueno por conocer.
I don't want another boss, but better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

fall ill, get sick, get ill

locución verbal (enfermar)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
El niño se puso malo y lo metí en la cama.

drive mad

locución verbal (molestar mucho)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Estas actitudes prepotentes me ponen mala.

all extremes are bad

expresión (pide moderación)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

Let's learn Spanish

So now that you know more about the meaning of malo in Spanish, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Spanish.

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Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.