badly

adverb

bad·​ly ˈbad-lē 

1

: in a bad manner

played badly

2

: to a great or intense degree

want something badly

Phrases

badly off for

British

: strongly in need of (something or someone)

It may seem pie in the sky in the current financial climate, but few could argue that for a city of its size and prestige, Edinburgh is badly off for large-scale sports facilities.

—The Evening News (Edinburgh)

not badly

: fairly or acceptably well

The economy is doing not badly and looks even better than it really is.

—Tom Teepen

think badly of

: to have an unfavorable or low opinion of (someone or something)

"You shouldn't think badly of the town because of this," said Brogan. "It is a good town."

—Neil Gaiman

Synonyms

• bad
• deficiently
• inadequately
• lousily
• poorly
• unacceptably
• unsatisfactorily
• wretchedly

Examples of badly in a Sentence

He played badly but I played even worse.

The failure reflects badly on the administration.

She wanted the job badly.

I'm badly in need of a vacation.

His fingers were badly frozen.

Recent Examples on the Web

What the report found One year ago, the county Board of Supervisors asked staff to find out how badly the worsening cross-border pollution has affected South County’s economy. —Tammy Murga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2024

Her face was so badly damaged during the attack that detectives could only identify her using fingerprints, the sheriff’s office said. —David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 6 June 2024

Each trial ended badly for Trump or his company (and each is being appealed). —Andrea Bernstein, ProPublica, 5 June 2024

Three people have been left badly injured after a hot air balloon crashed in Indiana. —Escher Walcott, Peoplemag, 4 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing badly

• badly off
• badly off for
• not badly
• think badly of

Kids Definition

badly

adverb

bad·​ly ˈbad-lē 

worse

ˈwərs

; worst

ˈwərst

1

: in a bad manner

played badly

2

: very much

wanted the jeans badly