badly

[bad-lee]

adverb

worse, worst 

1. in a defective, incorrect, or undesirable way.

   The car runs badly.

2. in an unsatisfactory, inadequate, or unskilled manner.

   a vague, badly written letter; He paints badly.

3. unfavorably.

   His neighbors spoke badly of him. The weather turned out badly for the cruise.

4. in a wicked, evil, or morally or legally wrong way.

5. in a disobedient, naughty, or ethically or socially wrong way.

   He treats his parents badly.

6. very much; to a great extent or degree.

   a house badly in need of repair; to want something badly.

7. severely; direly.

   to be injured badly.

8. with great distress, resentment, regret, or emotional display.

   She took the news of her mother's death badly.

adjective

1. in ill health; sick.

   He felt badly.

2. sorry; regretful.

   I feel badly about your reaction to my remark.

3. dejected; downcast.

badly

/ ˈbædlɪ /

adverb

1. poorly; defectively; inadequately

   the chair is badly made

2. unfavourably; unsuccessfully; unfortunately

   our scheme worked out badly

3. severely; gravely

   he was badly hurt

4. incorrectly or inaccurately

   to speak German badly

5. improperly; naughtily; wickedly

   to behave badly

6. without humanity; cruelly

   to treat someone badly

7. very much (esp in the phrases need badly , badly in need of , want badly )

8. regretfully

   he felt badly about it

9. poor; impoverished

adjective

1. dialect,  (postpositive) ill; poorly

Usage

In the sense “very much,” badly is fully standard: He needs help badly. See also bad ¹.

Word History and Origins

Origin of badly¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English baddeli, baddeliche, badli(che) “wickedly, evilly, poorly”; bad ¹, -ly

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. badly off. bad.

Example Sentences

"School is such an important part of their life for so many reasons and I feel they have been really badly neglected and as a mummy, this makes me really sad."

Read more on BBC

Thankfully, the Portuguese people are kind and no matter how badly I bomb when trying to speak, they always praise my attempt and encourage me to keep trying.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Moving back to L.A. as a middle-aged married woman felt like reconnecting with an ex with whom things ended badly.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

South Gate wants to play its semifinal playoff game on Saturday so badly at home that it’s broken out a tarp so the City Section officials can’t deem it unplayable after expected rain Thursday night.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The victim, who was visiting the memorial with two friends, was badly injured but managed to stagger out of the steles before collapsing in front of the memorial.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• deeply 
• greatly 
• hard 
• painfully www.thesaurus.com
• seriously 
• severely