BADLY
What does "BADLY" mean?
In a poor or unsatisfactory way; or to a great and serious degree.
Meanings
- In a way that is unskilled, faulty, or of low quality. The shelf was so badly built that it collapsed within a week.
- To a serious or severe extent. He was badly hurt in the crash but survived.
- Very much; greatly (of wanting or needing). She wanted the job badly enough to move across the country. informal
Word origin
From Middle English 'badde' (bad), of obscure origin, plus the adverb-forming suffix '-ly' from Old English '-lice'.
Remember it
BADLY = BAD + LY: take 'bad', add the '-ly' that turns adjectives into adverbs, and you've literally done it well.
A little poem
He played the song badly, every note bent wrong,
but she had asked for it, and he had said yes-
so wrong, played for the right reason, came out right.
tercet
Wordplay
- I want to stop using the word 'badly' so badly, but I keep doing it badly.
What it teaches
The same word measures both how poorly and how deeply - we hurt worst over what we wanted most.
Quick facts
What does BADLY mean?
In a poor or unsatisfactory way; or to a great and serious degree.
Is BADLY a valid word?
Yes — BADLY is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is BADLY?
BADLY has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does BADLY come from?
From Middle English 'badde' (bad), of obscure origin, plus the adverb-forming suffix '-ly' from Old English '-lice'.
What can BADLY teach us?
The same word measures both how poorly and how deeply - we hurt worst over what we wanted most.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.