bad off

bad off

Without enough money to get by; poor. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. I've been bad off for the last few months; it's hard to make ends meet these days.
See also: bad, off
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

bad off

Also, badly off. In unfortunate circumstances, poor. For example, Her husband's death left her bad off, or She had her pension and wasn't too badly off. The first term is colloquial. [Early 1800s] Also see well off.
See also: bad, off
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • chip
  • chips
  • up on (one's) ear
  • dead as mutton
  • mutton
  • (as) dead as mutton
  • Two Bob
  • ghetto
  • ghetto bird
  • one of the lads
References in periodicals archive
A mother contacted me and asked how bad off do you have to be to get help.
Big Bear is isolated--at least by Southern California standards--high in the San Gabriel Mountains, full of trees, and not bad off in terms of light pollution.
Texas is no stranger to drought and flooding, but at least it isn't as bad off as California.
He added: "Whether heroin or crack or other drugs played a role in what happened to her will be determined - but I know how bad off she was in the months before this happened."
"You sense this about the group, we had a bad off day on Saturday at Crewe.
"It doesn't feel bad off the tee, it doesn't feel bad with the iron play, it doesn't feel bad chipping or putting, but I'm making a lot of loose drives here or there, some loose iron shots here or there, missing some short putts here or there."
Before the first one, I was pretty bad off because my traumatic brain injury and PTSD was really bad.
It's as bad off as people said, in terms of numbers of foreclosures and banks unwilling to loan.
They had been going really well and were having a bad off day, but by taking out his frustration in such a public way probably upset people more than he realised and they have steadily dropped right into trouble.
Wong said Fitchburg is not as bad off as some larger cities such as Worcester, Boston and New Bedford, and even some smaller communities, that are having massive layoffs, with some looking at laying off entire departments.
As a group, turtles are as bad off," says Erik Kiviat, executive director of Hudsonia, an environmental research group in New York's Hudson Valley.
Tennessee has been in the news lately and it's clear speaking with colleagues from other states that most are as bad off, if not worse, than us.
I knew I had to be truthful because I had reached a point where I could really understand how bad off I was.
"It makes people who were bad off even worse," said Dr Einar Gude, of the Akershus Central Hospital, near Oslo.
"Many artists today will be as bad off as those in the past unless they become better informed," says Dyanna Williams, co-founder and executive director of the International Association for African-American Music (IAAAM).