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Greek adjective · G2556

κακός

kakoskak-os'

in general, opposite to ἀγαθός, καλός, in various senses; In ethical sense; pernicious, harmful, evil

50 uses in the Greek text, one for each word STEP Bible has tagged with this key

Concordance spelling: kakós

Word page · Part of the concordance, one page for every word of the Hebrew and Greek text. Strong's G2556is this word's number in James Strong's 1890 index of the King James Bible.

  • 19 of 27
    New Testament books
  • 15
    spellings
  • 3
    meanings

The definition in full

Strong's key (1890) · G2556

worthless (intrinsically, such

The King James renders it: bad, evil, harm, ill, noisome, wicked.

James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), public domain. Strong indexed the King James text, and this site quotes his entry as that index.

Summary

kakos is rendered "in general, opposite to ἀγαθός, καλός, in various senses; In ethical sense; pernicious, harmful, evil". It stands 50 times in the Greek text, across nineteen books.

  • Fifteen of the uses stand in Romans, more than in any other book.
  • The lexicon lists three meanings for it, beginning with "in general, opposite to ἀγαθός, καλός, in various senses".
  • Its first use in canonical order opens the ledger below.Matthew 21:41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”
  • The Greek text spells it fifteen different ways.

The first use

“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”

Matthew 21:41κακοὺς

The first use, in the order of the New Testament's books.

Where the word stands

What the word means

The word carries three meanings: in general, opposite to ἀγαθός, καλός, in various senses, and In ethical sense, and pernicious, harmful, evil.

Each meaning, and the words it is translated by

The English STEP Bible gives each use, word by word, and how many times.
in general, opposite to ἀγαθός, καλός, in various sensesbad, mean, base, worthless (cl.).Tagged as
  • of evil things2
  • by evils1
  • evils1
  • injurious1
  • of evils1
  • of wrongs1
  • wrong1
WhereMatthew 21:41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied…
In ethical sensebase, evil, wickedTagged as
  • evil36
  • bad1
  • wretches1
WhereProverbs 12:12The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.
pernicious, harmful, evilLuk.16:25, Act.16:28 28:5, Tit.1:12, Jas.3:8, Rev.16:2 (Cremer, 325, 741). †Tagged as
  • harm3
  • harmful1
WhereLuke 16:25But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things…

The words built on the same word-part

Each word below begins with the same letters this one begins with. A shared word-part shows a family. It does not settle what any one of them means, so each word carries its own uses on its own page. Scholars call that shared part the stem.

κακόωkakooto harmUses6
κακολογέωkakologeoto curse/revileUses4
κακοποιέωkakopoieoto do evil/harmUses4
κακοῦργοςkakourgoscriminalUses4
κακοπαθέωkakopatheoto endureUses3
κακοποιόςkakopoioswrongdoingUses3
κακουχέωkakoucheoto tormentUses2
κακοήθειαkakoetheiamaliceUses1
κακοπάθειαkakopatheiasufferingUses1

All 50, in canonical order

Every use, in order

Every use, grouped by book, with its verse.

15 spellings and their grammar

STEP Bible tags every word of the Hebrew and Greek text with its spelling and its grammar. Both lists below count the rows printed underneath, written out in English, with the code beside each one as it was tagged.

How it is spelled

  • κακὸν16
  • κακόν7
  • κακοῦ7
  • κακὰ4
  • κακῶν4
  • κακοὺς3
  • κακά1
  • κακά.¶1
  • κακαί1
  • κακὴν1
  • κακοὶ1
  • κακόν.¶1

and 3 more spellings in the ledger below.

The grammar of each form

  • adjective · accusative (object) · neuter singular21A-ASN
  • adjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter singular8A-GSN
  • adjective · accusative (object) · neuter plural5A-APN
  • adjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter plural4A-GPN
  • adjective · accusative (object) · masculine plural3A-APM
  • adjective · nominative (subject) · neuter singular3A-NSN
  • adjective · accusative (object) · feminine singular1A-ASF
  • adjective · dative (“to / for”) · neuter singular1A-DSN
  • adjective · nominative (subject) · feminine plural1A-NPF
  • adjective · nominative (subject) · masculine plural1A-NPM
  • adjective · nominative (subject) · neuter plural1A-NPN
  • adjective · nominative (subject) · masculine singular1A-NSM

Matthew

three uses
  • “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”

    Matthew 21:41

    • κακοὺςkakousadjective · accusative (object) · masculine pluraltagged: wretches
  • But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’

    Matthew 24:48

    • κακὸςkakosadjective · nominative (subject) · masculine singulartagged: evil
  • “Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”

    Matthew 27:23

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil

Mark

two uses
  • For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

    Mark 7:21

    • κακοὶkakoiadjective · nominative (subject) · masculine pluraltagged: evil
  • “Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!”

    Mark 15:14

    • κακόνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil

Luke

two uses
  • But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.

    Luke 16:25

    • κακάkakaadjective · accusative (object) · neuter pluraltagged: harmful
  • A third time he said to them, “What evil has this man done? I have found in Him no offense worthy of death. So after I punish Him, I will release Him.”

    Luke 23:22

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil

John

two uses
  • Jesus replied, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what was wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why did you strike Me?”

    John 18:23

    • κακοῦkakouadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • “If He were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed Him over to you.”

    John 18:30

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil

Acts

four uses
  • But Ananias answered, “Lord, many people have told me about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem.

    Acts 9:13

    • κακὰkakaadjective · accusative (object) · neuter pluraltagged: evils
  • But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself! We are all here!”

    Acts 16:28

    • κακόνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: harm
  • A great clamor arose, and some scribes from the party of the Pharisees got up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

    Acts 23:9

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • But Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.

    Acts 28:5

    • κακόνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: injurious

Romans

fifteen uses
  • slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents.

    Romans 1:30

    • κακῶνkakonadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter pluraltagged: of evil things
  • There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;

    Romans 2:9

    • κακόνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • Why not say, as some slanderously claim that we say, “Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is deserved!

    Romans 3:8

    • κακὰkakaadjective · accusative (object) · neuter pluraltagged: evil
  • For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.

    Romans 7:19

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

    Romans 7:21

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · nominative (subject) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.

    Romans 12:17

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
    • κακοῦkakouadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

    Romans 12:21

    • κακοῦkakouadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter singulartagged: evil
    • κακόν.¶kakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.

    Romans 13:3

    • κακῷkakoadjective · dative (“to / for”) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.

    Romans 13:4

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

    Romans 13:10

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.

    Romans 14:20

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.

    Romans 16:19

    • κακόνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil

1 Corinthians

three uses
  • These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did.

    1 Corinthians 10:6

    • κακῶνkakonadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter pluraltagged: of evil things
  • It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.

    1 Corinthians 13:5

    • κακόνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: of wrongs
  • Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

    1 Corinthians 15:33

    • κακαίkakaiadjective · nominative (subject) · feminine pluraltagged: bad

2 Corinthians

one use
  • Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not that we will appear to have stood the test, but that you will do what is right, even if we appear to have failed.

    2 Corinthians 13:7

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: wrong

Philippians

one use
  • Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

    Philippians 3:2

    • κακοὺςkakousadjective · accusative (object) · masculine pluraltagged: evil

Colossians

one use
  • Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

    Colossians 3:5

    • κακὴνkakenadjective · accusative (object) · feminine singulartagged: evil

1 Thessalonians

two uses
  • Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.

    1 Thessalonians 5:15

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
    • κακοῦkakouadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter singulartagged: evil

1 Timothy

one use
  • For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

    1 Timothy 6:10

    • κακῶνkakonadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter pluraltagged: of evils

2 Timothy

one use
  • Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

    2 Timothy 4:14

    • κακὰkakaadjective · accusative (object) · neuter pluraltagged: harm

Titus

one use
  • As one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

    Titus 1:12

    • κακὰkakaadjective · nominative (subject) · neuter pluraltagged: evil

Hebrews

one use
  • But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to distinguish good from evil.

    Hebrews 5:14

    • κακοῦ.¶kakouadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter singulartagged: evil

James

two uses
  • When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.

    James 1:13

    • κακῶνkakonadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter pluraltagged: by evils
  • but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

    James 3:8

    • κακόνkakonadjective · nominative (subject) · neuter singulartagged: evil

1 Peter

five uses
  • Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

    1 Peter 3:9

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil
    • κακοῦkakouadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

    1 Peter 3:10

    • κακοῦkakouadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

    1 Peter 3:11

    • κακοῦkakouadjective · genitive (“of”) · neuter singulartagged: evil
  • For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

    1 Peter 3:12

    • κακά.¶kakaadjective · accusative (object) · neuter pluraltagged: evil

3 John

one use
  • Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

    3 John 1:11

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · accusative (object) · neuter singulartagged: evil

Revelation

two uses
  • I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.

    Revelation 2:2

    • κακοὺςkakousadjective · accusative (object) · masculine pluraltagged: evil
  • So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and loathsome, malignant sores broke out on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

    Revelation 16:2

    • κακὸνkakonadjective · nominative (subject) · neuter singulartagged: harm

Where it leads

How the numbers are counted

Every count on this page comes from STEP Bible's tagged Hebrew and Greek text, the same text the ledger prints. A use is counted once each time the tagging marks a word with this key.

Spellings are counted as the Greek text spells them, with the sentence's own punctuation taken off the word first, so a form that ends a clause is not counted as a second spelling.

The words it stands beside are the nouns, verbs and adjectives immediately before or after it, counted in every verse where the word stands. The article, the conjunctions and the prepositions are left out, because they stand beside every word.

The family is read from the lexicon by the stem the two words share, with the accents off, and a person or a place named on the stem is left out.

Hebrew and Greek text, word tagging and grammar: STEP Bible (www.STEPBible.org), Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0. Their grammar codes are written out in English here and shown as tagged beside each one.

Meaning and senses: STEP Bible TBESG (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0), the Brief lexicon based on Abbott-Smith (1922).

Dictionary key: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890, public domain). English verse text: Berean Standard Bible (public domain, 2023).

Revised 2026-09-05. Every cited work, the sources registry →