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

“Those are the kids that are the most vulnerable if they get any kind of a respiratory illness. It can really go badly for them, and they can end up extraordinarily ill,” Hudson said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Impulse policies, like impulse buys, can work out well or badly but can never be well rationalized.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"It's a difficult situation, and I believe we need more trustworthy platforms that don't allow people to behave badly."

Read more on Barron's

The video showed the device badly damaged and burned, but still on his ankle.

Read more on Barron's

Elon Musk, despite how badly Tesla’s stock performs or how outrageous he behaves, was just given a trillion dollar payday by the company’s shareholders.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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