Is good-and-bad formal or informal?

It is informal. In writing, people usually prefer mixed, uneven, or partly positive and partly negative.

Can I use good-and-bad for a person?

Usually, no. It is better for experiences, results, or situations than for describing a person.

What is the difference between good-and-bad and mixed?

They are close in meaning. Mixed is more natural and more common in careful English.

← Dictionary

good-and-bad

/ˌɡʊd ən ˈbæd/

IELTSAcademic

idiom

Used to describe a situation, result, or experience with both positive and negative parts. It means things are mixed, not fully good or fully bad.

The trip was good-and-bad overall.
Her job has good-and-bad days.
The movie was good-and-bad, not great but not awful.

Adinary Nuance

Good-and-bad is a simple, spoken way to say something has both nice and unpleasant parts. It is less formal than mixed, uneven, or ambivalent. Writers usually choose it in casual speech, not in careful academic writing.

In other languages

Vietnamese: vừa tốt vừa xấu
Spanish: bueno y malo
Chinese: 有好有坏
Japanese: 良し悪し
Korean: 좋고 나쁨

Etymology

This phrase is an English compound of common words, used informally to describe mixed results. It has no special foreign origin; the meaning comes from the contrast between the two words.

Common phrases

a good-and-bad experiencegood-and-bad resultsgood-and-bad days

Synonyms

mixed uneven average

Frequently asked questions

Is good-and-bad formal or informal?: It is informal. In writing, people usually prefer mixed, uneven, or partly positive and partly negative.
Can I use good-and-bad for a person?: Usually, no. It is better for experiences, results, or situations than for describing a person.
What is the difference between good-and-bad and mixed?: They are close in meaning. Mixed is more natural and more common in careful English.