badly

adverb

bad·ly ˈbad-lē

Synonyms of badly next

: in a bad manner

played badly

: 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

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

In an interview, Mr. Martin said his view was being badly misinterpreted. —

Shane Goldmacher, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2025 Knowing how badly Laine had been struggling with the Montreal Canadiens, coming into the tournament on an eight-game pointless streak, Pennanen had a one-on-one conversation with the mercurial scoring star. —

Arpon Basu, The Athletic, 16 Feb. 2025 Authorities said there were signs she had been badly beaten, malnourished and tortured prior to her death, according to a statement from the Racine County Sheriff’s Office. —

Nicole Acosta, People.com, 15 Feb. 2025 Rich and poor characters alike behave badly on the show—but only the former expect to get away with their sins, and usually do. —

Hannah Giorgis, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2025 See all Example Sentences for badly