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
-
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 )
-
regretfully
he felt badly about it
-
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.
Anthropic’s relationship with the U.S. government soured badly after the company declined to let its products be deployed for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance.
From MarketWatch
Anthropic’s relationship with the U.S. government soured badly after the company declined to let its products be deployed for autonomous weapons or mass surveillance.
From MarketWatch
He only realised how badly injured he was when he returned to the UK.
From BBC
Such scenes of devastation are fresh in the memories of all Israelis, but particularly residents of the Tel Aviv area, which was badly hit during the previous confrontation between the two arch-foes last June.
From Barron's
He got his team very badly wrong to begin with, but he righted the wrongs thereafter.
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.
