1
: in a bad manner
played badly
2
: to a great or intense degree
want something badly
see also:
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
The Russian economy was actually doing extremely badly a couple of weeks back.
—
Jill Lawless The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 18 Mar. 2026
The building’s limestone and stucco exterior is badly cracked, and four of the Corinthian pillars in the colonnade are close to fracturing.
—Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 17 Mar. 2026
Iran’s air-defense network has been badly degraded, and its navy reduced to a fraction of its former capacity.
—Richard Goldberg, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026
Such are the perils of polling in which thin samples, shaky turnout guesses and voters who increasingly refuse to answer surveys can produce numbers that look precise but badly misread the electorate.
—Karen Brooks Harper
austin Bureau, Dallas Morning News, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for badly
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Jill Lawless The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 18 Mar. 2026
The building’s limestone and stucco exterior is badly cracked, and four of the Corinthian pillars in the colonnade are close to fracturing.
—Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 17 Mar. 2026
Iran’s air-defense network has been badly degraded, and its navy reduced to a fraction of its former capacity.
—Richard Goldberg, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026
Such are the perils of polling in which thin samples, shaky turnout guesses and voters who increasingly refuse to answer surveys can produce numbers that look precise but badly misread the electorate.
—Karen Brooks Harper
austin Bureau, Dallas Morning News, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for badly
Cite this Entry
“Badly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/badly. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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
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