badly

adverb

bad·​ly ˈbad-lē 

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

Synonyms of badly

• poorly
• bad

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

Jacob Tremblay portrays Kaczynski as a wide-eyed, vulnerable teenager who wants to prove himself so badly. — Rachel Corbett, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2026

The company says the aircraft could cut flight-training costs by as much as 80% compared to conventional combustion-engine trainers – a number worth watching closely, given how badly the industry needs cheaper ways to churn out new pilots. — New Atlas, 25 Sep. 2026

Meta was late to the generative AI game, badly trailing OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, which all have popular AI models and a host of services used by consumers and businesses. — Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026

Fans are shocked at how badly the rebuilding Dolphins have looked in their first two games. — Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 24 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing badly

• badly off
• badly off for
• not badly
• think badly of

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