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)
The Evening News (Edinburgh)
: fairly or acceptably well
The economy is doing not badly and looks even better than it really is.—Tom Teepen
Tom Teepen
: to have an unfavorable or low opinion of (someone or something)
"You shouldn't think badly of the town because of this," said Brogan. "It is a good town."—Neil Gaiman
Neil GaimanExamples 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
Social media platforms struggled to deal with abuse The extent of harassment and abuse that Gamergate’s victims experienced — forcing some to leave their homes and go into hiding — showed just how badly tech companies had failed to protect their users, Massanari and others said.
—Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 23 Mar. 2025
No victory can meet those standards, and with the benefit of hindsight, even those celebrated for their purity fail the ‘perfect’ test badly.
—Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2025
Smartphones aren’t all bad, and those who portray them as such are overreaching badly.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2025
Consumer activity has slowed and retail and travel stocks have taken lumps for it, but household balance sheets aren’t badly stretched in aggregate.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 22 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for badly
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.
Harmeet Kaur, CNN, 23 Mar. 2025
No victory can meet those standards, and with the benefit of hindsight, even those celebrated for their purity fail the ‘perfect’ test badly.
—Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2025
Smartphones aren’t all bad, and those who portray them as such are overreaching badly.
—New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2025
Consumer activity has slowed and retail and travel stocks have taken lumps for it, but household balance sheets aren’t badly stretched in aggregate.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 22 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for badly
Cite this Entry
“Badly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/badly. Accessed 28 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share