Word Study
badly
CIDE DICTIONARY
badly, adv.
In a bad manner; poorly; not well; unskillfully; imperfectly; unfortunately; grievously; so as to cause harm; disagreeably; seriously. [1913 Webster]
" Badly is often used colloquially for very much or very greatly, with words signifying to want or need." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
badly, adv. (worse; worst)
1 in a bad manner (works badly).
2 colloq. very much (wants it badly).
3 severely (was badly defeated).
1 in a bad manner (works badly).
2 colloq. very much (wants it badly).
3 severely (was badly defeated).
THESAURUS
badly
afield, amiss, astray, atrociously, awfully, awry, carelessly, critically, cruelly, damagingly, dangerously, defectively, deficiently, distressfully, dreadfully, emotionally, erroneously, faultily, gravely, greatly, grievously, hard, hardly, harshly, horribly, improperly, inaccurately, inadequately, inartistically, incorrectly, ineptly, insufficiently, mischievously, painfully, poorly, roughly, seriously, severely, shamefully, shoddily, unacceptably, unfavorably, unfortunately, unkindly, unluckily, unsatisfactorily, unspeakably, unsuccessfully, very much, viciously, vigorously, villainously, wickedly, wretchedly, wrongROGET THESAURUS
badly
Badness
N badness, hurtfulness, virulence, evil doer, bane, plague spot, evil star, ill wind, hoodoo, Jonah, snake in the grass, skeleton in the closet, amari aliquid, thorn in the side, malignity, malevolence, tender mercies, ill-treatment, annoyance, molestation, abuse, oppression, persecution, outrage, misusage, injury, knockout drops, badness, peccancy, abomination, painfulness, pestilence, guilt, depravity, hurtful, harmful, scathful, baneful, baleful, injurious, deleterious, detrimental, noxious, pernicious, mischievous, full of mischief, mischief-making, malefic, malignant, nocuous, noisome, prejudicial, disserviceable, disadvantageous, wide-wasting, unlucky, sinister, obnoxious, untoward, disastrous, oppressive, burdensome, onerous, malign, corrupting &c (corrupt), virulent, venomous, envenomed, corrosive, poisonous, deadly, destructive, inauspicious, bad, ill, arrant, as bad as bad can be, dreadful, horrid, horrible, dire, rank, peccant, foul, fulsome, rotten, rotten at the core, vile, base, villainous, mean, injured, deteriorated, unsatisfactory, exceptionable indifferent, below par, illcontrived, ill-conditioned, wretched, sad, grievous, deplorable, lamentable, pitiful, pitiable, woeful, evil, wrong, depraved, shocking, reprehensible, hateful, hateful as a toad, abominable, detestable, execrable, cursed, accursed, confounded, damned, damnable, infernal, diabolic, unadvisable, unprofitable, incompetent, irremediable, badly, wrong, ill, to one's cost, where the shoe pinches, bad is the best: the worst come to the worst, herba mala presto cresco, wrongs unredressed or insults unavenged.For further exploring for "badly" in Webster Dictionary Online