badly

adverb

ˈbad-lē How to pronounce badly (audio)
Definition of badlynext
1
as in poorly
in an unsatisfactory way I'm afraid you performed quite badly in our last rehearsal

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in terribly
to a great degree blood donors are badly needed this time of year

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of badly Two men were badly burned—one died, and the other remains hospitalized—and the Fiorella’s owners lost two more skiffs. — Will Freeman, New Yorker, 30 June 2026 At the wrong side of the stats table, Genie Erokhina struggled badly for Bay Area, going 0-6 and winning just 20% of her points for the weekend. — Todd Boss, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026 Simón Bolívar International Airport, which serves Caracas, was badly damaged. — Regina Cano Garcia, Chicago Tribune, 27 June 2026 Simón Bolívar International Airport, which serves Venezuela's capital, Caracas, was badly damaged in the quake. — Arkansas Online, 28 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for badly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for badly
  1. poorly
  2. terribly
  3. bad
  4. extremely
  5. very
  6. incredibly
  7. too
  8. severely
Adverb
  • Building collapses are common in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 1 July 2026
  • After all, even with the growing demands of an aging population and increases in intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), larger numbers of these jobs are already poorly paid.
    — Gene Sperling, Time, 1 July 2026
Definition of poorly
Adverb
  • But everyone on the Spurs shot terribly from deep in the clutch.
    — Jared Weiss, New York Times, 29 June 2026
  • Wonderfully and terribly, everything does happen for Maddie after her adoring bear of a husband, Jake (Eric Rahill), makes a cooking video of her that goes massively viral.
    — Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2026
Definition of terribly
Adverb
  • In one of them, a spot attacking Harman, Checchi included a photo of the lieutenant governor — and not a bad-looking one at that.
    — Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 28 Mar. 2026
  • In one of them, a spot attacking Harman, Checchi included a photo of the lieutenant governor — and not a bad-looking one at that.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2026
Definition of bad
Adverb
  • The team turned to the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, a stadium-sized synchrotron facility that produces extremely bright X-ray beams.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 6 July 2026
  • Teasing out the impact of a small dose of radiation that occurs in addition to all those other exposures is extremely challenging, and the impact of extremely low exposures has not been decisively demonstrated.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 6 July 2026
Definition of extremely
Adverb
  • Despite consuming mass quantities of high-calorie foods during competition season, most professional competitive eaters are very lean.
    — Jennifer Borresen, USA Today, 3 July 2026
  • Music icon Taylor Swift and football star Travis Kelce, who announced their engagement in August 2025, are anticipated to tie the knot very soon.
    — Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
Definition of very
Adverb
  • Each location was incredibly challenging, but each location was challenging in a different way.
    — Alex Ritman, Variety, 6 July 2026
  • Dan, your schedule is incredibly busy with this, Rick and Morty, Krapopolis and execing on Haunted Hotel.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 6 July 2026
Definition of incredibly
Adverb
  • Traditional studios might adopt Chinese models for some preproduction tasks such as concepting, but the geopolitical and intellectual property risks for commercial generations are too prohibitive.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2026
  • His father, Brian Cohn, jumped into the pool to try to pull him out, but the suction from the drain was too strong.
    — Madeline Mitchell, USA Today, 3 July 2026
Definition of too
Adverb
  • Atmos is already facing a lawsuit over the explosion from a resident who was severely burned.
    — Matthew Ablon, CBS News, 1 July 2026
  • Nearby Elephant Butte Lake, a draw for outdoorsy tourists, is so severely drought-depleted that sunbaked fish carcasses line its shores.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2026
Definition of severely

Browse Nearby Words

badlands
badly
bad-mouth
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Badly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/badly. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on badly

Nglish: Translation of badly for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All