badly
Americanadverb
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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.
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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
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unfavourably; unsuccessfully; unfortunately
our scheme worked out badly
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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
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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”; 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.
"In the end Girona deserved it, they had a lot of chances, we defended very badly," admitted Flick.
From Barron's
The publicist’s participation in the gala came at a pivotal time for Epstein, who was seeking to rehabilitate his image, which had been badly damaged by his 2008 conviction.
From Los Angeles Times
And while health care has deteriorated badly in recent years because of shortages of medicines and equipment, it remains free — a system gasping but not abandoned.
From Salon
As to which of these formerly house-proud democracies is more badly damaged, that feels like a coin-flip.
From Salon
Having lost badly against France and nearly drawn against Italy, Ireland will be annoyed that everyone is writing them off.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
