From Middle High German sleht, from Old High German sleht (see also schlicht), from Proto-Germanic *slihtaz. Cognate with English slight, Dutch slecht, Afrikaans sleg, Icelandic sléttur, Faroese slættur, Swedish slätt, Danish slet , Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (slaihts), and Norwegian slett.
schlecht (strong nominative masculine singular schlechter, comparative schlechter, superlative am schlechtesten)
schlecht and schlimm could be considered synonyms, but there is a difference in connotation. Use schlecht for "bad" in situations where judgment is involved, implying a certain level of objectivity ("bad job, bad idea, bad manners, bad quality").
Use schlimm to mean "bad" when a negative consequence is implied and it negatively affects a person or creature ("bad accident, bad cold, bad injury").
Sometimes you can use either word. For example, you could say "schlechter Traum" or "schlimmer Traum" for 'bad dream'. The connotation of using "schlechter" would imply the 'bad dream' wasn't that harmful after waking up (like, 'it was just a bad dream. I'm fine.'); whereas, using "schlimmer" would imply that the 'bad dream' had a lasting impact even after waking up, kind of like saying 'awful dream'. Same with "schlechter Tag" and "schlimmer Tag" ('bad day'). "schlimmer Tag" would be closer to 'awful day' in the sense that it implies the negative consequences of the bad day will carry over to tomorrow.
schlecht
schlecht (comparative schlechter, superlative schlechtest)
schlecht (masculine schlechten, neuter schlecht, comparative méi schlecht, superlative am schlechtsten)
| number and gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
| predicative | hien ass schlecht | si ass schlecht | et ass schlecht | si si(nn) schlecht | |
| nominative / accusative |
attributive and/or after determiner | schlechten | schlecht | schlecht | schlecht |
| independent without determiner | schlechtes | schlechter | |||
| dative | after any declined word | schlechten | schlechter | schlechten | schlechten |
| as first declined word | schlechtem | schlechtem | |||
schlecht
Compare German schlecht, Dutch slecht.
schlecht
schlecht