Idiom
bad apple
Meaning
A person who is not wholesome, honest, or trustworthy, especially one who has an adverse influence on others.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He is a bad apple who causes trouble for everyone.”
“One bad apple in the group makes the whole neighborhood look dangerous.”
“The manager fired the bad apple because his negative attitude was ruining the team's productivity.”
“The teacher moved the bad apple to a different desk because he kept encouraging the other students to break the classroom rules during the lesson.”
“Although the organization was built on integrity, a single bad apple managed to corrupt the entire department through his dishonest business practices.”
Examples
simple
“He is a bad apple who causes trouble for everyone.”
“One bad apple in the group makes the whole neighborhood look dangerous.”
contextual
“The manager fired the bad apple because his negative attitude was ruining the team's productivity.”
“The teacher moved the bad apple to a different desk because he kept encouraging the other students to break the classroom rules during the lesson.”
complex
“Although the organization was built on integrity, a single bad apple managed to corrupt the entire department through his dishonest business practices.”
Origin
Derived from the proverb "one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch," or its numerous historical variants. The phrase draws upon the observation that the ethylene gas produced by a decaying fruit will cause its neighbours to rot with similar efficiency. Although the sentiment appears in various forms throughout Middle English and early modern literature, the specific idiom follows the logic of the botanical principle.
Key words
Related idioms
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