bad blood

noun

Synonyms of bad bloodnext
: ill feeling : bitterness

Synonyms of bad blood

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of bad blood in a Sentence

There's been a lot of bad blood between them since their quarrel. there's been bad blood between the two families for years
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
There was certainly no sign of bad blood following their very public spat at New York’s Yankee Stadium just over 36 hours earlier. — James Pearce, New York Times, 1 Aug. 2026 The woman said on Monday that there was no bad blood between her and Usher, but that her interests in the show lay elsewhere. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 30 July 2026 Between the franchises’ October clashes, dramatic home runs and lingering bad blood have turned nearly every meeting between the teams into must-watch television. — Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026 Some of that stems from the political relations between the two nations off the pitch, but much bad blood has also been developed by a string of controversial matches on it. — Ben Church, CNN Money, 15 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for bad blood

Word History

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bad blood was in 1664

Rhymes for bad blood

See All Rhymes for bad blood

Browse Nearby Words

badawi
bad blood
bad books
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bad blood.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bad%20blood. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of colloquial

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All