1
: in a bad manner
played badly
2
: to a great or intense degree
want something badly
see also badly off for, not badly, think badly of
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
Miami’s 39 sacks ranked 16th in the league, and the Dolphins were badly hurt by their inability to turn several pressures into sacks.
—
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 10 Feb. 2026
Like everything else in Ukraine, the country’s sport and athletes have been badly affected by the war.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 10 Feb. 2026
Substitutions will always be scrutinised by supporters when results go badly.
—Andy Naylor, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2026
Perry now has about 1,000 trees, some of which are badly scarred.
—Kara Finnstrom, CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for badly
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Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 10 Feb. 2026
Like everything else in Ukraine, the country’s sport and athletes have been badly affected by the war.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC news, 10 Feb. 2026
Substitutions will always be scrutinised by supporters when results go badly.
—Andy Naylor, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2026
Perry now has about 1,000 trees, some of which are badly scarred.
—Kara Finnstrom, CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for badly
Cite this Entry
“Badly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/badly. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids 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
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