badly
Americanadverb
-
in a defective, incorrect, or undesirable way.
The car runs badly.
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in an unsatisfactory, inadequate, or unskilled manner.
a vague, badly written letter; He paints badly.
-
unfavorably.
His neighbors spoke badly of him. The weather turned out badly for the cruise.
-
in a wicked, evil, or morally or legally wrong way.
-
in a disobedient, naughty, or ethically or socially wrong way.
He treats his parents badly.
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very much; to a great extent or degree.
a house badly in need of repair; to want something badly.
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severely; direly.
to be injured badly.
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with great distress, resentment, regret, or emotional display.
She took the news of her mother's death badly.
adjective
idioms
adverb
-
poorly; defectively; inadequately
the chair is badly made
-
unfavourably; unsuccessfully; unfortunately
our scheme worked out badly
-
severely; gravely
he was badly hurt
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incorrectly or inaccurately
to speak German badly
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improperly; naughtily; wickedly
to behave badly
-
without humanity; cruelly
to treat someone badly
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very much (esp in the phrases need badly , badly in need of , want badly )
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regretfully
he felt badly about it
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poor; impoverished
adjective
Usage
In the sense “very much,” badly is fully standard: He needs help badly. See also bad 1.
Etymology
Origin of badly
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English baddeli, baddeliche, badli(che) “wickedly, evilly, poorly”; see origin at bad 1, -ly
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Sadly and disappointedly, I'd say the police have handled this really badly," he said.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
But if things do go badly, it will become clear that they’ve doubled down on their AI bets—and at enormous scale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
It ended badly, with the Magpies relegated and Shearer never returning to the dugout.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
His recent public appearances add up to a tell on how badly he will fail.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
I think we all instinctively knew that something was so badly wrong we couldn’t even question it.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
