Plural of badness; multiple instances or qualities of being bad, evil, or of poor quality.
From Old English 'bæddel' (hermaphrodite, inferior person) combined with the suffix '-ness' (a state or quality) and pluralized with '-es'. The word evolved from Middle English to describe abstract qualities of evil or poor quality.
The word 'badness' became especially popular in African American Vernacular English and hip-hop culture to mean 'excellence' or 'coolness'—a complete flip of its original meaning! This semantic reversal shows how language communities can reclaim and transform words.
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