adj
Meaning 1
Ill, unwell.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Northern-England
Examples
- He's never badly.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
badly
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈbæd.li/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ædli
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CMU ARPABET: B AE1 D L IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adv
Meaning 2
In a bad manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- Things are going badly for her: she did badly in her exams owing to a badly designed studying schedule.
- Don't think badly of me, give me the benefit of the doubt.
- I feel badly about the accident because it was entirely our fault.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: lousily, meagerly, poorly, shoddily
Antonyms: well
adv
Meaning 3
Very much; to a great degree.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- I want it so badly.
- Look at these split ends! You badly need a haircut!
- Everything went badly wrong.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: acutely, very much, awfully, almighty, badly, beyond, damn, drastically, exceedingly, extraordinarily, highly, hugely, immensely, indecently, insanely, intensely, jolly, mightily, murrain, severely, strikingly, terribly, violently, wicked, wildly
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 4
(`ill' is often used as a combining form) in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner; not well
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he was ill prepared
- it ill befits a man to betray old friends
- the car runs badly
- he performed badly on the exam
- the team played poorly
- ill-fitting clothes
- an ill-conceived plan
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ill, poorly
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 5
with unusual distress or resentment or regret or emotional display
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- they took their defeat badly
- took her father's death badly
- conducted himself very badly at the time of the earthquake
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: well
adverb
Meaning 6
unfavorably or with disapproval
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- tried not to speak ill of the dead
- thought badly of him for his lack of concern
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ill
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 7
in a disadvantageous way; to someone's disadvantage
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the venture turned out badly for the investors
- angry that the case was settled disadvantageously for them
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: disadvantageously
Antonyms: well
adverb
Meaning 8
without skill or in a displeasing manner
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- she writes badly
- I think he paints very badly
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: well
adverb
Meaning 9
to a severe or serious degree
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- fingers so badly frozen they had to be amputated
- badly injured
- a severely impaired heart
- is gravely ill
- was seriously ill
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: severely, gravely, seriously
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 10
very much; strongly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- I wanted it badly enough to work hard for it
- the cables had sagged badly
- they were badly in need of help
- he wants a bicycle so bad he can taste it
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bad
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 11
with great intensity (`bad' is a nonstandard variant for `badly')
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- the injury hurt badly
- the buildings were badly shaken
- it hurts bad
- we need water bad
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: bad
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 12
in a disobedient or naughty way
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he behaved badly in school
- he mischievously looked for a chance to embarrass his sister
- behaved naughtily when they had guests and was sent to his room
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: mischievously, naughtily
Antonyms: none provided
adverb
Meaning 13
evilly or wickedly
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- treated his parents badly
- to steal is to act badly
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English badly, baddely, baddeliche, equivalent to bad + -ly.
Across languages
Translations
62 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: зле (zle) — ill, unwell
- Finnish: sairas — ill, unwell
- German: schlecht — ill, unwell
- Greek: άρρωστος (árrostos) — ill, unwell
- Ido: malada — ill, unwell
- Norwegian Bokmål: dårlig — ill, unwell
- Russian: нехорошо́ (nexorošó) — ill, unwell
- Russian: ду́рно (dúrno) — ill, unwell
- Russian: пло́хо (plóxo) — ill, unwell
- Spanish: mal — ill, unwell
- Swedish: dålig — ill, unwell
- Turkish: kötü — ill, unwell
- Basque: gaizki — in a bad manner
- Bulgarian: зле (zle) — in a bad manner
- Catalan: malament — in a bad manner
- Catalan: mal — in a bad manner
- Cimbrian: brüubel — in a bad manner
- Ngazidja Comorian: nai — in a bad manner
- Czech: špatně — in a bad manner
- Danish: dårligt — in a bad manner
- Dutch: slecht — in a bad manner
- Esperanto: malbone — in a bad manner
- Finnish: huonosti — in a bad manner
- Finnish: pahasti — in a bad manner
- French: mal — in a bad manner
- French: mauvaisement — in a bad manner
- Friulian: mâl — in a bad manner
- Galician: mal — in a bad manner
- German: schlecht — in a bad manner
- Greek: κακώς (kakós) — in a bad manner
- Greek: κακά (kaká) — in a bad manner
- Greek: άσχημα (áschima) — in a bad manner
- Ancient Greek: κακῶς (kakôs) — in a bad manner
- Mbya Guarani: vaikue — in a bad manner
- Hungarian: rosszul — in a bad manner
- Ido: male — in a bad manner
- Italian: male — in a bad manner
- Japanese: 悪く (waruku) — in a bad manner
- Korean: 나쁘게 (nappeuge) — in a bad manner
- Korean: 서투르게 (seotureuge) — in a bad manner
- Ladin: melamënter — in a bad manner
- Latin: male — in a bad manner
- Latin: aliter — in a bad manner
- Latvian: slikti — in a bad manner
- Norwegian Bokmål: dårlig — in a bad manner
- Occitan: mal — in a bad manner
- Occitan: mau — in a bad manner
- Old English: yfele — in a bad manner
- Polish: źle — in a bad manner
- Portuguese: mal — in a bad manner
- Romanian: rău — in a bad manner
- Romansh: malamain — in a bad manner
- Russian: пло́хо (plóxo) — in a bad manner
- Russian: нехорошо́ (nexorošó) — in a bad manner
- Sardinian: male — in a bad manner
- Slovene: slabó — in a bad manner
- Spanish: malamente — in a bad manner
- Spanish: mal — in a bad manner
- Swedish: dåligt — in a bad manner
- Turkish: acil — in a bad manner
- Turkish: fena — in a bad manner
- Walloon: må — in a bad manner
Real reading context