Spanish word

mal

Pronunciation

IPA/mal/

Meaning

  • adverbwrong

Example

Eso está mal.

That is wrong.

Illustration for mal (wrong)

More examples

Me siento mal hoy.

I feel ill today.

Core concept

Not functioning well or done incorrectly.

Common phrases

  • estar mal

    be ill

  • sentirse mal

    feel ill

  • salir mal

    go wrong

Similar words

incorrectamente: Is performed using the wrong procedure or steps, causing the task to fail.
erróneamente: Is founded on incorrect information or premises, leading to mistaken conclusions.
equivocadamente: Is chosen or perceived mistakenly, causing subsequent actions to be misguided.

Definition in Spanish

Expresa que una persona o cosa está en mal estado o que una acción se realiza de forma equivocada.

Word origin

Mal derives from Latin male 'badly' and shares its root with malus 'bad', with medieval Spanish producing the shorter adverbial form mal.

Usage tips

  • Estar mal commonly signals a person's condition or feeling, while hacer mal or funcionar mal indicate that an action or thing is performed poorly.

Other meanings

  • badadjective
  • badlyadverb
  • illadjective

Opposites

  • bienwelladverb
  • correctamenteproperlyadverb

Related words

Word lists with this word