have it bad

English

Verb

have it bad (third-person singular simple present has it bad, present participle having it bad, simple past and past participle had it bad) [with for]

1. To be obsessed (with); to be enthralled (by); to be in love (with).
   • 1993, Dana Stabenow, Dead in the Water, →ISBN, page 68:

     Her smile was reward enough for the thought, and realizing it, he knew he had it bad.

   • 2014, Gaby Triana -, Summer of Yesterday, →ISBN, page 146:

     Only because my brother seems to have it bad for you.

   • 2015, Elana K. Arnold, Infandous, →ISBN, page 42:

     I almost feel sorry for him. I mean, you can see that he has it bad—his eyes stay trained on my mother's mouth as she tilts the bottle back, watches as she swallows, as she licks her lips.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see have,‎ it,‎ bad. To have a difficult time; to suffer.
   • 1938, J. Curtis, They Drive by Night, page 121:

     ‘As if the girls didn’t have it bad enough without poncified bastards like you coming and murdering them.’

   • 2008, Judith O'Reilly, Wife in the North, →ISBN:

     He thinks he has it bad making new friends in school.

   • 2012, Don Collier, The Speed of Thought: And Ramblings on Human Evolution and Nature, →ISBN:

     From strictly a continent standpoint, Africa still has it bad in places today, but for the other continents, overall, they are much safer places than in the past.

   • 2013, Marianne Levy, Ellie May Can Definitely be Trusted to Keep a Secret, →ISBN:

     Kiko has it bad enough right now, with reporters stalking her day and night