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Badly Very Common

Badly has 12 different meanings across 1 category:

Adverb

Definitions
Adjective
1

Ill, unwell.

"After falling down the stairs, he was badly hurt and needed immediate medical attention."

Adverb
1

to a severe or serious degree

"fingers so badly frozen they had to be amputated"

"badly injured"

"a severely impaired heart"

"is gravely ill"

"was seriously ill"

2

(`ill' is often used as a combining form) in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner; not well

"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"

3

evilly or wickedly

"treated his parents badly"

"to steal is to act badly"

4

in a disobedient or naughty way

"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"

5

with great intensity (`bad' is a nonstandard variant for `badly')

"the injury hurt badly"

"the buildings were badly shaken"

"it hurts bad"

"we need water bad"

6

very much; strongly

"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"

7

without skill or in a displeasing manner

"she writes badly"

"I think he paints very badly"

8

in a disadvantageous way; to someone's disadvantage

"the venture turned out badly for the investors"

"angry that the case was settled disadvantageously for them"

9

unfavorably or with disapproval

"tried not to speak ill of the dead"

"thought badly of him for his lack of concern"

10

with unusual distress or resentment or regret or emotional display

"they took their defeat badly"

"took her father's death badly"

"conducted himself very badly at the time of the earthquake"

11

In a bad manner.

"The actor sang badly, ruining the performance with his poor pitch and lack of emotion."

Example Sentences
"fingers so badly frozen they had to be amputated" adverb
"badly injured" adverb
"a severely impaired heart" adverb
"is gravely ill" adverb
"was seriously ill" adverb
"he was ill prepared" adverb
"it ill befits a man to betray old friends" adverb
"the car runs badly" adverb
"he performed badly on the exam" adverb
"the team played poorly" adverb
Related Terms
Antonyms
good well advantageously

Origin

The word badly comes from Middle English and was formed by adding the suffix -ly to the adjective bad. It has retained its original meaning of "in a poor or incorrect manner" since it entered the language.

Rhyming Words
idly endly oddly sadly dadly kidly godly oldly madly redly mindly goodly maidly woodly puddly wildly widdly fondly laidly mildly
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