Badmash is Hindi/Urdu for a mischievous or naughty person, often used affectionately about children. Not concerning, just South Asian vocabulary. If your kid uses it constantly, ask them where they first heard it, not to police their speech but to understand which online community they are in. Most slang of this kind moves through TikTok and group chats, so seeing it in your child's vocabulary just means they are plugged into normal teen internet culture.
badmash
(British Pakistani, South Asia, British India, India, Pakistan) A rogue, ruffian or miscreant.
Definitions
UK
#1·Apr 27, 2026UK
(British Pakistani, South Asia, British India, India, Pakistan) A rogue, ruffian or miscreant.
Origin: بدمعاش / बदमाश and its source, , from bad, evil + life, livelihood, ultimately from . Compare lowlife, which is a similar formation in English. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).
For parents
Badmash is Hindi/Urdu for a mischievous or naughty person, often used affectionately about children. Not concerning, just South Asian vocabulary. If your kid uses it constantly, ask them where they first heard it, not to police their speech but to understand which online community they are in. Most slang of this kind moves through TikTok and group chats, so seeing it in your child's vocabulary just means they are plugged into normal teen internet culture.
For ESL learners
Badmash is a Hindi/Urdu noun meaning a mischievous, naughty, or rascally person. Use in South Asian contexts. Formal equivalents: "rascal," "mischief-maker." Common non-native mistake: assuming it always means a serious criminal. While the word can describe a criminal, it is often used affectionately about playful children or mildly naughty behaviour. Read or listen to the word in context several times before trying it yourself; the right register is harder to learn than the dictionary meaning.
Heard in the wild
“# Badmash Gallaki Bumper Offer Badmash Gallaki Bumper Offer Indian film | Badmash Gallaki Bumper Offer | | --- | | Directed by | Ravi Chavali | | Story | Ravi Chavali | | Screenplay | Ravi Chavali | | | | Produced by | - Aalapati Shekhar<br>- Athindha Avinash | | Starring | - Indrasena<br>- Santhosh<br>- Pregya<br>- Merin Philip | | Cinematography | Vijay C Kumar | | Edited by | Marthand.”
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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UK
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Other words near "badmash" (B)
bad girlbaditudebadlabad lookerbadly packed kebabbadmanbadminbad mindbad-mindedbadonkerbad rapbad scran to someone
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Semantically related
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(Jamaica) A gangster.
- madarchod65%
(South Asia, India, mainly, North India, Pakistan, derogatory, offensive, vulgar) motherfucker.
- bad egg63%
(Britain, US, idiomatic) Someone whose behaviour is reprehensible or irresponsible; a rogue.
- baddie63%
(informal) A person of bad character, especially in a work of fiction.
- peak62%
In British MLE: bad, unfortunate. Reverse-meaning of the American slang. Notable false friend across dialects.