What is the meaning of badly?

adverb

  • To a severe or serious degree.
    • usage: "fingers so badly frozen they had to be amputated"; "badly injured"; "a severely impaired heart"; "is gravely ill"; "was seriously ill"
  • (adv.) ((`ill' is often used as a combining form) in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner; not well)
    • usage: "he was ill prepared"; "it ill befits a man to betray old friends"; "the car runs badly"; "he performed badly on the exam"; "the team played poorly"; "ill-fitting clothes"; "an ill-conceived plan"
  • Evilly or wickedly.
    • usage: "treated his parents badly"; "to steal is to act badly"
  • In a disobedient or naughty way.
    • usage: "he behaved badly in school"; "he mischievously looked for a chance to embarrass his sister"; "behaved naughtily when they had guests and was sent to his room"
  • With great intensity (`bad' is a nonstandard variant for `badly'. )
    • usage: "the injury hurt badly"; "the buildings were badly shaken"; "it hurts bad"; "we need water bad"
  • Very much; strongly.
    • usage: "I wanted it badly enough to work hard for it"; "the cables had sagged badly"; "they were badly in need of help"; "he wants a bicycle so bad he can taste it"
  • Without skill or in a displeasing manner.
    • usage: "she writes badly"; "I think he paints very badly"
  • In a disadvantageous way; to someone's disadvantage.
    • usage: "the venture turned out badly for the investors"; "angry that the case was settled disadvantageously for them"
  • Unfavorably or with disapproval.
    • usage: "tried not to speak ill of the dead"; "thought badly of him for his lack of concern"
  • With unusual distress or resentment or regret or emotional display.
    • usage: "they took their defeat badly"; "took her father's death badly"; "conducted himself very badly at the time of the earthquake"
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APAWordNet. (2010). badly. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/badly/definitions/1250764
ChicagoWordNet. 2010. "badly" http://smartdefine.org/badly/definitions/1250764 (accessed September 22, 2026).
HarvardWordNet 2010, badly, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/badly/definitions/1250764>.
MLAWordNet. "badly" 23 October 2010. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/badly/definitions/1250764>
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