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)
Will you think badly of me if I disagree?
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
Prince Mohammed has not been back to the US since the 2018 murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, which badly ruptured his international standing and Saudi-US relations.
—Ben Smith, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
There are numerous teams who badly need help at the cornerback position.
—Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
The €286m spent on players since 2022 has largely been spent badly and on other coaches.
—James Horncastle, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
The short stories, written in Lee’s youth, are all badly underdeveloped.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 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.
Ben Smith, semafor.com, 24 Oct. 2025
There are numerous teams who badly need help at the cornerback position.
—Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
The €286m spent on players since 2022 has largely been spent badly and on other coaches.
—James Horncastle, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2025
The short stories, written in Lee’s youth, are all badly underdeveloped.
—Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 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 30 Oct. 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