bad penny

Noun

bad penny (plural bad pennies)

1. (idiomatic) A person or thing which is unpleasant, disreputable, or otherwise unwanted, especially one which repeatedly appears at inopportune times.
   • "Felix Marchand'll have much money—bad penny as he is," continued Christine in her normal voice.1916, Gilbert Parker, chapter 4, in The World For Sale
   • Pierce remembered Hilda's prophecy that her indigent husband would turn up, like a bad penny.1918, Rex Ellingwood Beach, chapter 17, in The Winds of Chance
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bad, penny: A counterfeit or damaged penny.
   • And in respect to bad halfpence he advises that none be taken at turnpikes, whose keepers buy bad halfpence by the pound, and circulate them largely on the specious principle of giving and taking–that is–they take one bad penny from a horseman to day, and when he changes a sixpence to-morrow, give...1808, w:Edward Du Bois, “Bad Money”, in w:The Monthly Mirror, volume III New Series, London, Edinburgh: J Wright; Vernor, Hood and Sharpe; J. Murray; A. Constable & co, page 20