böse

See also: bose, Bose, and Böse

German

Alternative forms

• bös (colloquial or poetic)

Etymology

From Middle High German bœse, bōse, from Old High German bōsi, from Proto-Germanic *bausuz (“inflated, puffed up, arrogant, bad”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bew- (“to blow, inflate, swell”), akin to Yiddish בייז (beyz), Dutch boos, and English boast.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbøːzə/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

böse (comparative böser, superlative am bösesten)

1. evil; malicious; wicked

   Synonyms: boshaft, bösartig

   Antonym: gut

   Unsere Taten können schlimme Folgen haben, selbst wenn wir keine bösen Absichten hatten.

   Our actions can have terrible consequences even if we didn’t have any evil intentions.

2. bad; naughty

   Antonym: brav

   Böse Kinder kriegen nichts vom Sankt Nikolaus.

   Naughty children don’t get anything from St. Nicholas.

3. (chiefly predicative) angry

   Bist du böse auf mich? ― Are you angry at me?

   Synonyms: sauer, verärgert

Related terms

• Böse n (noun)
• Bosheit n (noun)
• boshaft (adjective)
• bösartig (adjective)
• böswillig (adjective)
• bitterböse (adjective)

See also

• schlecht
• schlimm
• übel
• ungut

Adverb

böse

1. nastily, evilly

Further reading

• “böse” in Duden online