How to Use poorly in a Sentence

poorly

adverb
  • The rest of the football game went very poorly.
    — Jasper Craven, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Leu notes that paper signs taped to glass tend to age poorly.
    — Natasha Bazika, Martha Stewart, 5 June 2026
  • How can any product that works so poorly be hyped so much?
    — Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Without it, your home can look poorly thought out.
    — Ashley Chalmers, The Spruce, 7 June 2026
  • The only thing that gives me pause is how poorly trained his dog is.
    — Haben Kelati, Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
  • Those who do poorly often drop out.
    — Esme Murphy, CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026
  • Even the iPhone did very poorly in its first years in terms of sales.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 25 Dec. 2025
  • But, in fact, the surveys pay poorly.
    — Kathy Kristof, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 May 2026
  • This augurs poorly for yen bulls.
    — William Pesek, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
  • Avoid heavy and poorly draining soil.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 9 Apr. 2026
  • The leaders who did it poorly had one thing in common.
    — Heather Yerrid, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
  • Talley, with his lengthy rap sheet, should have scored poorly and raised many red flags.
    — Chicago Tribune, 3 May 2026
  • Titles may be out of date, and roles may be poorly defined.
    — Craig Davies, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • None of the Knicks are playing poorly.
    — Esfandiar Baraheni, New York Times, 24 May 2026
  • It was both poorly handled and never a strong case.
    — The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026
  • Peterson has pitched poorly for over a month at this point.
    — Will Sammon, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
  • But Volpe profiles poorly across the board.
    — Zach Pressnell, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Aug. 2025
  • That’s why a fine textured soil, like clay, drains more poorly than does a coarse, sandy soil.
    — Paul Cappiello, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Apr. 2026
  • But the move hasn’t exactly aged poorly so far, has it?
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Too many or poorly timed nudges irritate users.
    — Prithvi Singh Shergill, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Wet, soggy soil and soil like clay that’s heavy or poorly draining can lead to root rot.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 28 Aug. 2025
  • Without guardrails, even a handful of poorly sized trades can erode months of progress.
    — Malana Vantyler, USA Today, 15 Oct. 2025
  • That bodes poorly for the world economy.
    — Tristan Bove, Fortune, 17 June 2026
  • When the main players were on the floor in the first half, the Knicks shot poorly from deep.
    — James L. Edwards Iii, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • The only problem is, now the page in front of you is poorly written.
    — Literary Hub, 20 Jan. 2026
  • Tipsy bats fly worse and echolocate poorly.
    — New Atlas, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Her mother was poorly paid and struggled to earn a living wage.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 19 Oct. 2023
  • Thursday was an example of how poorly the team can play in front of the goalie.
    — Allan Mitchell, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2026
  • But the list of chores that pose a serious health risk if done poorly is fairly short.
    — Annie Midori Atherton, Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2024
  • The hosts debate whether the plans reflect poorly on the Hawks.
    — Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 5 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'poorly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: