Cattive

Cattive is the feminine plural form of the Italian adjective cattivo, meaning bad, harmful, or morally wrong. It is used to describe feminine nouns, for example le azioni cattive (bad actions) or le persone cattive (bad people). The corresponding masculine forms are cattivo (singular) and cattivi (plural).

In usage, cattive generally conveys a negative judgment about qualities, behavior, or circumstances. It can describe moral failings, unpleasant conditions, or harmful effects, as in una situazione cattiva or cattive abitudini. It is common in both everyday speech and formal writing, and it can be strengthened by adverbs or intensifiers (e.g., estremamente cattive).

Grammatical notes: cattive agrees in gender and number with the feminine plural noun it modifies. The singular feminine form is cattiva; the masculine forms are cattivo and cattivi for singular and plural, respectively. When describing mixed-gender groups, Italian allows attributive adjectives to align with the noun they modify, so accuracy depends on the noun being feminine plural in typical phrases like le persone cattive.

Etymology: cattive derives from the native Italian adjective cattivo, part of a Latin-derived Romance vocabulary. The exact historical origin within Italian is not always specified, but it belongs to the standard set of opposites of buono (good).

See also: cattiva, cattiva reputazione, malvagità, brutto.