bad ‧ ly S3 W3 /ˈbædli/ BrE AmE adverb ( comparative worse /wɜːs $ wɜːrs/, superlative worst /wɜːst $ wɜːrst/)
1 . in an unsatisfactory or unsuccessful way OPP well :
The company has been very badly managed.
The novel was translated badly into English.
badly made furniture
Rob did very badly in the History exam.
2 . to a great or serious degree:
He’s been limping badly ever since the skiing accident.
We badly wanted to help, but there was nothing we could do.
He was beaten so badly that his brother didn’t recognize him.
The school is badly in need of (=very much needs) some new computers.
Things started to go badly wrong (=go wrong in a serious way) for Eric after he lost his job.
3 . think badly of somebody/something to have a bad opinion of someone or something:
I’m sure they won’t think badly of you if you tell them you need some help.
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ adjectives
▪ badly damaged
Both cars were badly damaged in the accident.
▪ badly hurt/injured/wounded
Fortunately no one was badly hurt.
▪ badly affected
Albania was badly affected by industrial unrest.
▪ badly hit (=be badly affected)
Businesses have been badly hit by the economic slowdown.
▪ badly shaken (=be very upset or frightened)
Both boys were badly shaken by the incident.
■ verbs
▪ want something badly
Caroline wanted the job badly.
▪ miss somebody badly (=feel very sad because you are not with someone you love)
Lucy was missing Gary badly.
▪ suffer badly
The town suffered badly during the last war.
■ phrases
▪ be badly in need of something (=need something very much)
He felt badly in need of a cup of coffee.
▪ go badly wrong (=go wrong in a serious way)
Their election campaign had gone badly wrong.