in bad taste
Lacking refined judgment
Something in bad taste is offensive, inappropriate, or lacking sensitivity to social norms.
The phrase judges actions, remarks, jokes, or choices as crude, vulgar, or hurtful: His comments about her weight were in bad taste.
What counts as bad taste varies by context—a joke might land among friends but seem crass at a funeral.
The opposite is in good taste.
- garishTastelessly showy
- gaudyTastelessly ornate
- vulgarCrude or indecent
- over the topExcessively theatrical or extreme
- inappropriateNot suitable or fitting
crass · tone-deaf · crude · tacky · off-color · too soon · below the belt · exploitative · offensive · beyond the pale · gauche · unseemly · tactless · disrespectful · gratuitous · loud · indecent · kitschy
- risquerisque, racy, bawdy, ribald, suggestive
in bad tasteelegant
Gracefully refined, tasteful
refined · cultured · sophisticated · classy · polished
in bad tastein good taste
tasteful · inoffensive · proper · decent · respectable
bad, taste, tasty, tasteless, tasted, tasteful, tasting, tastes, distasteful