bad lot

bad lot

A person or group of people typified by immoral, illegal, or illicit behavior, which is often seen as being corruptive or destructive to others. That George fellow is a bad lot. I heard he was arrested just last year for robbing a convenience store for drug money. I fell in with a bad lot after high school and got in a lot of trouble, but I've cleaned up my act now.
See also: bad, lot
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a bad ˈlot

(old-fashioned, British English) a person who is dishonest: I’m not surprised. I always said he was a bad lot, didn’t I?
See also: bad, lot
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a bad lot
  • bad bunch
  • keep (one's) hands clean
  • the weed of crime bears bitter fruit
  • something nasty in the woodshed
  • (one's) hands are clean
  • someone's hands are clean
  • sup with the devil
  • dine with the devil
  • life in the slow lane
References in classic literature
These pirates, a bad lot of men, used to wait for sailors to be shipwrecked on their shores.
Shut the door, Jim, you'll get no good out of 'ER," continued John, pointing with his thumb towards Miss Sharp: "a bad lot, I tell you, a bad lot," and so saying, Mr.
He's a bad lot. You can say what you like to me, but remember what I've told you.
The girl may be small enough and mean enough to decline to have anything to say to me because her father was a bad lot, and she doesn't want to be reminded of him, but for that very reason can you imagine her virtually refusing a large sum of money?
Bounderby, the two gentlemen at this present moment walking through Coketown, and both eminently practical, who could, on occasion, furnish more tabular statements derived from their own personal experience, and illustrated by cases they had known and seen, from which it clearly appeared - in short, it was the only clear thing in the case - that these same people were a bad lot altogether, gentlemen; that do what you would for them they were never thankful for it, gentlemen; that they were restless, gentlemen; that they never knew what they wanted; that they lived upon the best, and bought fresh butter; and insisted on Mocha coffee, and rejected all but prime parts of meat, and yet were eternally dissatisfied and unmanageable.
"They're a bad lot; they have pulled off the mask." Madame de Bellegarde and her son certainly bore in their faces the signs of extreme perturbation; they looked like people who had passed a sleepless night.
"Gregson is the smartest of the Scotland Yarders," my friend remarked; "he and Lestrade are the pick of a bad lot. They are both quick and energetic, but conventional -- shockingly so.
"Dear old grandma; she did her best, but I 'm a bad lot," said Tom, with a shake of the head and a sober face.
They're bad lots, and you'll come to no good with them.
"Biological support explaining why the bad lot (batch of drug) resulted in lower (effectiveness) would increase our confidence in the post-hoc analysis but, unfortunately, Nektar was not able to share details of what they have learned from the biology," Graybosch wrote in a note.
Couple of mistakes but best of a bad lot at the back for visitors
Javid might be the best of a bad lot. He has made some good calls as Home Secretary.
The chaps we fraternise with at Malente - not a bad lot to lark about with.
The result is that teams get less revenue from gate collections and only attract a bad lot that is only bent on mayhem.
Viagogo are the worst of a bad lot, paying Google and other online sites a fortune as they spin their dodgy adverts to catch unsuspecting music fans.