deficiently

adverb

as in poorly
in an unsatisfactory way the road to the mountain lodge is so deficiently marked that we had a terrible time finding it

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for deficiently
  1. poorly
  2. badly
  3. bad
Adverb
  • Coach Curt Cignetti was asked after the game how his team could play so poorly for most of three quarters and still pull out a win.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
  • The bet went swimmingly for the house and poorly for its takers.
    — Ta-Nehisi Coates, Vanity Fair, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of poorly
Adverb
  • The Anthropic report is the latest warning issued by the company concerning rogue AI agents operating on their own and sometimes behaving badly.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Although the house is still standing, the interior was left so badly damaged that the family can no longer live there.
    — Joan Murray, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of badly
Adverb
  • Another would be to coat your thumbs with a bad-tasting substance.
    — Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 30 July 2026
  • Of course, Hole himself isn’t averse to breaking bad, either.
    — Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 23 Mar. 2026
Definition of bad
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.

Browse Nearby Words

deficient
deficiently
deficit
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Cite this Entry

“Deficiently.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deficiently. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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