look bad

look bad

1. To give the appearance of something that is or could be considered distasteful, undesirable, or improper. Will you please just come to the wedding with me? It will look bad if I show up on my own. I know you don't like having your time as a line cook on your résumé, but it looks bad to have such a large gap of time between jobs.
2. To indicate a likelihood of failure or difficulty; to not bode well for the future. Things are looking pretty bad for the company at the moment, between the recent failure of their latest product and allegations of money laundering being investigated by the FBI. I know it looks bad, but I can fix it before the deadline!
See also: bad, look
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

look ˈbad

,

not look ˈgood


1 (of behaviour) give a bad impression: It will look bad if you don’t go to the meeting. It doesn’t look good if you forget people’s names.
2 suggest probable failure, problems, etc: Things don’t look good for the economy at the moment.
See also: bad, look
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • in for
  • be in for
  • be in for something
  • leave (someone, something, or oneself) (wide) open to (something)
  • leave open
  • leave yourself wide open to something
  • I don't suppose
  • reconcile (oneself) to (something)
  • reconcile oneself to
  • bad form
References in classic literature
"For it'll look bad when Justice Malam hears as respectable men like us had a information laid before 'em and took no steps."
Silas Marner
Present appearances look bad for our success, but we must succeed and will!'
Barnaby Rudge A Tale Of The Riots Of Eighty
"Why," said Martin, looking with sharper attention at Adam, "ye look bad. Is there anything happened?"
Adam Bede
"It does look bad. Suppose I say a word to Tom, just inquire after his heart in a general way, you know, and give him a chance to tell me, if there is anything to tell." "I 'm willing, but you must let me see the letter.
An Old Fashioned Girl
"Things began to look bad. We put the long-boat into the water.
Youth A Narrative
"People think Christian art can look bad or cheesy," Chung says.
Beautiful Bible
Summary: The blow may look bad for Huawei, but the company has been preparing to deal with just such a situation.
Will the US ban on Huawei give it a welcome break?
There are people who want me to look bad to my people," he said.
Obado defends Justice Ojwang over bribery claims
A(https://twitter.com/missedshapes1/status/1093827595035119616) nother social media user reacted  to the post and stressed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex don't need to make the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge look bad because for him, "Will and Kate make themselves look bad all on their own."
Prince Harry, Meghan Markle's Workload Makes Prince William, Kate Look 'Ineffective'
Trump: The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad ...
Kavanaugh elevator protesters were 'paid for by Soros': Trump
We do it so much that it does not look bad to us anymore.
Civic sense
[USA], Sep 14 (ANI): United States President Donald Trump on Thursday refuted the Puerto Rican Government's assessment, that Hurricane Maria claimed 3,000 lives in Puerto Rico, accusing the Democrats of inflating the death toll to "make him look bad."
Trump denies death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria
"I'm still not back to where I was before I got ill but I'm trying not to stress about it too much because I know I don't look bad."
CORONATION Street star Kym [...]; THE DIARY In association with Got a story? Email: dianne.bourne@men-news.co.ukorkatie.fitzpatrick@trinitymirror.com Phone: 0161 211 2816/2484 Twitter: @CelebManchester See more celebrity pictures, videos and interviews online at: manchestereveningnews.co.uk dianne bourne & katie fitzpatrick with all the inside stories
'It may look bad, but I have an IRON-CLAD ALIBI: I was puppy-sitting and both Millie and Mabel can vouch for me.'
'Star Wars' legend Mark Hamill makes fun of Trump's destroyed Hollywood Walk of Fame star
Sloh observes that internationally, Liberia and Burkina Faso's news agencies look bad, vowing that he will work to ensure that Liberia's news agency gets the support it needs to succeed.
Plans announced to make LINA autonomous