Phrase guide

one bad apple can spoil the barrel

proverb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

proverb

Meaning 1

One bad person or element can have a harmful influence on many others.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • "One of our kittens started chewing on the chair the other day and now they're all doing it! Just goes to show that one bad apple can spoil the barrel."

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From the observation that rot of a single fruit can spread to many fruit nearby.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Hindi: एक गंदी मछली पूरे तालाब को गंदा कर देती है (ek gandī machlī pūre tālāb ko gandā kar detī hai) — one bad person or element can have a harmful influence on many others
  • Latin: pomum compunctum cito corrumpit sibi iunctum — one bad person or element can have a harmful influence on many others
  • Malay: sebab nila setitik, rosak susu sebelanga — one bad person or element can have a harmful influence on many others
  • Urdu: ایک گندی مچھلی پورے تالاب کو گندہ کر دیتی ہے — one bad person or element can have a harmful influence on many others
  • Vietnamese: con sâu làm rầu nồi canh — one bad person or element can have a harmful influence on many others