bad apple — meaning & examples

Language: en

Meanings:

  • 1.

    Global Englishinformal
    • A person who behaves badly or immorally and negatively influences others; a troublemaker within a group whose conduct can damage the group's reputation or functioning.

    Examples

    Beta

    • There’s always a bad apple in every team that causes trouble and lowers morale.

      In every group, there is usually one troublemaker who disrupts and demoralizes others.

    • We had to remove the bad apple from the committee before he ruined the project.

      We needed to expel the immoral person from the group to save the project.

    • Did you notice that bad apple influencing the younger members to break the rules?

      Have you seen the troublemaker encouraging younger people to disobey regulations?

  • 2.

    Global Englishinformal
    • An expression indicating that a single undesirable or corrupt individual can spoil or undermine an entire group, organization, or enterprise.

    Examples

    Beta

    • One bad apple in the company’s leadership can spoil the whole organization’s reputation.

      A single corrupt leader can damage the entire organization’s image.

    • They say it only takes one bad apple to ruin the group’s chances of success.

      It is believed that one undesirable person can destroy a group’s opportunity to succeed.

    • If you tolerate bad apples, soon the whole team’s integrity will be compromised.

      Allowing corrupt individuals will eventually undermine the entire team’s honesty.

Examples:

  • EN: If you're covering for that bad apple... you're in one hell of a jam.
    ES: Si estás tratando de encubrir a ese sinverguenza... te vas a meter en un buen lío.
  • EN: Lasky Bell's a bad apple, you know that?
    ES: Lasky no es un buen cliente, ya sabes.
  • EN: No, he's an employee just like me, except he's a bad apple.
    ES: No, es un empleado igual que yo, nomás que de muy mal carácter.
  • EN: I may sound crazy, but how can I let it close? And I mustn't put a bad apple in a bushel of good ones.
    ES: ¿Y yo cómo podría resistir las consecuencias de saber que pongo una pera podrida en un cesto para examen?
  • EN: But Pete didn't want to alert the people at Vectrocon Systems in case Simmons wasn't the company's only bad apple.
    ES: Pero Pete no quería alertar a los de Vectrocon Systems por si Simmons no era la única manzana podrida.
  • EN: Well, look, there's a bad apple in every barrel, right?
    ES: Bueno, mira, hay manzanas podridas en todos lados, ¿no?
  • EN: That's the one where there's a bad apple in the CIA. He tries to kill Robert Redford 'cause he knows too much.
    ES: En la película, un malhechor de la CIA quiere asesinar a Robert Redford por lo que sabe.
  • EN: Not a bad apple in the bunch, right?
    ES: No hay ninguno podrido en el grupo, ¿verdad?
  • EN: I'm a bad apple.
    ES: Soy una manzana podrida.
  • EN: One bad apple can screw up the whole thing.
    ES: Una manzana podrida puede pudrir a las demás, ¿me entiendes?
  • EN: They say one bad apple spoils the bunch.
    ES: Dicen que una sola... manzana podrida echa a perder al resto.
  • EN: Man: My son ain't no bad apple!
    ES: ¡Mi hijo no es una manzana podrida!
  • EN: Well, Lieutenant, if this is who I think it is, this is one bad apple.
    ES: Teniente, si este es quien creo que es, se trata de una manzana podrida.
  • EN: One bad apple and all the others rot.
    ES: La manzana podrida, corrompe a las demás.
  • EN: Farrow finds a bad apple in our barrel and that makes his career.
    ES: Para ascender, necesita encontrar una manzana podrida en esta cesta.

Related Idioms

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Sourced from Wiktionary