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, Scotland)

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)

Will you think badly of me if I disagree?

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

One key factor differentiating companies that do well at succession planning from those that do badly is the incumbent CEO’s willingness to engage in the task of picking someone to succeed them, another recent analysis of succession pitfalls found. —Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, semafor.com, 14 Nov. 2025

Less than two months later, the garage was closed after a homeless man started a fire that badly damaged the eight-story structure. —Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 14 Nov. 2025

Traditionally, the long-term economic trend is not badly affected by the short-term pain of shutdowns. —Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, The Conversation, 13 Nov. 2025

The Mets and Cubs need to add pitching as badly as any team in the league. —Zach Pressnell, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Nov. 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