Describes something believed to bring bad luck or be a sign of misfortune, often in superstitious contexts.
They say it's bad luck to cut your nails at night.
Some people think dreaming of a funeral is a bad omen.
The opposite expression, meaning 'lucky' or 'auspicious'.
From 縁起 (engi, 'omen') + が (ga, subject marker) + 悪い (warui, 'bad'). The word 縁起 itself originates from Buddhist terminology referring to 'dependent origination', later extended to mean 'luck' or 'omen'.