feel-bad

feel-bad
feel-good, feel-bad
We have had the feel-good factor and feelgoodism since 1977, when the New York Times reported that the latest aberration in the American pursuit of happiness is the feelgood movement. The word had been used earlier in Dr Feelgood, a term for a physician who provided short-term palliatives rather than effective cures. In the 1990s, the term feel-good factor came increasingly to be associated with material prosperity as a political and social factor. The antidote to all this is the feel-bad factor, which dates from the early 1990s:

• We're all so insecure about our short-term contracts and our feel-bad factors that we're terrified of appearing keen to leave the office —Guardian, 1995.

It is still with us:

• It is ironic that our nurses could be the first arm of the public sector to suffer the full brunt of the so-called feel-bad factor, the term used by economists to describe the creeping whiff of impending gloom —Sunday Times, 2007.


Modern English usage. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • feel-bad — feelˈ bad or feelˈbad adjective (informal) Causing a feeling of personal unease • • • Main Entry: ↑feel …   Useful english dictionary

  • feel bad (about something) — phrase to feel guilty or unhappy about something Tim felt bad about leaving without saying goodbye. Thesaurus: to be, or to become ashamed or embarrassedsynonym Main entry: bad …   Useful english dictionary

  • feel-bad factor — noun The antidote to the feel good factor (qv below) • • • Main Entry: ↑feel …   Useful english dictionary

  • feel bad about — (informal) To be sorry about, regret • • • Main Entry: ↑bad …   Useful english dictionary

  • feel bad — not feel well, feel ill; feel pity or sorrow …   English contemporary dictionary

  • feel-bad — adjective creating a feeling of anxiety or despair Ant: feel good …   Wiktionary

  • You Can Feel Bad — Infobox Single Name = You Can Feel Bad Cover size = Border = Caption = Artist = Patty Loveless Album = The Trouble with the Truth A side = You Can Feel Bad B side = Released = start date|1995|12|30 Format = Cassette Single, CD Single Recorded =… …   Wikipedia

  • feel-good — feel good, feel bad We have had the feel good factor and feelgoodism since 1977, when the New York Times reported that the latest aberration in the American pursuit of happiness is the feelgood movement. The word had been used earlier in Dr… …   Modern English usage

  • bad, badly — Bad is an adjective, badly an adverb. Despite this clear grammatical distinction, people tend to say I feel badly about as often as the more correct I feel bad. In time, distinction between the forms may break down further, but as of now I feel… …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • bad — bad, badly 1. After the verb feel, bad is an adjective complement (meaning either ‘guilty, ashamed’ or ‘unwell’) rather than an adverb: • To be absolutely honest, what I feel really bad about is that I don t feel worse Michael Frayn, 1965. After… …   Modern English usage

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