NOT BAD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does not bad mean? 

• NOT BAD (adjective)
  The adjective NOT BAD has 1 sense:

1. very good

  Familiarity information: NOT BAD used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NOT BAD (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Very good

Synonyms:

bang-up; bully; corking; cracking; dandy; great; groovy; keen; neat; nifty; not bad; old; peachy; slap-up; smashing; swell

Context example:

we had a grand old time

Similar:

good (having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 Context examples 

His eyebrows were very black, and moved readily, and this gave him a look of some temper, not bad, you would say, but quick and high.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The effect on Lucy was not bad, for the faint seemed to merge subtly into the narcotic sleep.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The pigeon-pie was not bad, but it was a delusive pie: the crust being like a disappointing head, phrenologically speaking: full of lumps and bumps, with nothing particular underneath.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She thought it would annoy him, but he only folded his arms under his head, with an imperturbable, "That's not bad. Thank you, ladies."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

As if this were not bad enough for me, the boys, connecting me with the establishment, on account of the patience and perseverance with which I sat outside, half-dressed, pelted me, and used me very ill all day.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)