badly

adverb

bad·​ly ˈbad-lē 

1

: in a bad manner

played badly

2

: to a great or intense degree

want something badly

Phrases

badly off for

British

: strongly in need of (something or someone)

It may seem pie in the sky in the current financial climate, but few could argue that for a city of its size and prestige, Edinburgh is badly off for large-scale sports facilities.

—The Evening News (Edinburgh)

not badly

: fairly or acceptably well

The economy is doing not badly and looks even better than it really is.

—Tom Teepen

think badly of

: to have an unfavorable or low opinion of (someone or something)

"You shouldn't think badly of the town because of this," said Brogan. "It is a good town."

—Neil Gaiman

Synonyms

• bad
• deficiently
• inadequately
• lousily
• poorly
• unacceptably
• unsatisfactorily
• wretchedly

Examples of badly in a Sentence

He played badly but I played even worse.

The failure reflects badly on the administration.

She wanted the job badly.

I'm badly in need of a vacation.

His fingers were badly frozen.

Recent Examples on the Web

But Trump's pullback has shaken European nations badly and raised questions over how the continent could defend itself in a real crisis without the U.S. backing that has protected much of Europe from the potential Russian threat since the end of World War II. —Dan Perry, Newsweek, 1 Mar. 2025

The region was badly hit by Storm Bert and Storm Darragh in November and December, and many families and businesses are still recovering. —Meredith Kile, People.com, 28 Feb. 2025

Previous attempts at using a central bank had fared badly. —Erik Sherman, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2025

The fleet of C-130s that carry scientists to the poles had started to age badly. —Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing badly

• badly off

Rhymes for badly

• gladly
• madly
• sadly
• comradely

Kids Definition

badly

adverb

bad·​ly ˈbad-lē 

worse

ˈwərs

; worst

ˈwərst

1

: in a bad manner

played badly

2

: very much

wanted the jeans badly