Level 4

못되다

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Meaning and Usage

The adjective '못되다' describes someone or something as mean, bad-tempered, or having a bad character. It is often used to criticize a person's behavior or personality when they act unkindly or cruelly.

Common Contexts

This word is frequently used in everyday conversation to describe children or adults who behave badly or are unkind to others. It carries a negative connotation and is informal but common in spoken Korean.

Collocations and Patterns

  • '못된 아이' (a mean child): describes a child who behaves badly.
  • '못된 행동' (bad behavior): refers to actions that are unkind or harmful.
  • '못된 마음' (mean heart): describes a person's bad or cruel intentions.

Usage Notes

'못되다' is not used to describe mistakes or errors in the sense of 'going wrong' but rather to describe bad character or behavior. Learners sometimes confuse it with verbs meaning 'to fail' or 'to be wrong,' but '못되다' specifically refers to moral or behavioral negativity.

Use it carefully as it can be quite strong and may hurt feelings if used directly toward someone.

Example Sentences

그 아이는 너무 못돼서 친구들을 괴롭혀요.

Geu aineun neomu motdwaeseo chingudeureul goerophyeoyo.

That child is so mean that he bullies his friends.

못된 행동을 하면 친구들이 멀어질 거예요.

Motdoen haengdong-eul hamyeon chingudeuri meoreojil geoyeyo.

If you behave badly, your friends will distance themselves.

그 사람은 못된 마음을 가지고 있어서 믿기 어려워요.

Geu sarameun motdoen maeumeul gajigo isseoseo mitgi eoryeowoyo.

That person has a mean heart, so it's hard to trust him.