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bad vs badly

bad

Definitions

adjective

  1. not capable of being collected
  2. having undesirable or negative qualities
  3. not working properly
  4. capable of harming
  5. not financially safe or secure
and more 9 ...

adverb

  1. very much; strongly
  2. with great intensity (`bad' is a nonstandard variant for `badly')

noun

  1. that which is below standard or expectations as of ethics or decency

Examples

It's not bad but neither is it brilliant - which won't bother 99 per cent of buyers one jot as they are in it for the image.

I bought a dozen eggs and every one of them was bad.

It got so bad that 12 patrolmen and two police dogs were kept on duty outside the home for several days.

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badly

Definitions

adverb

  1. evilly or wickedly
  2. in a disobedient or naughty way
  3. with unusual distress or resentment or regret or emotional display
  4. (`ill' is often used as a combining form) in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner; not well
  5. unfavorably or with disapproval
and more 5 ...

Examples

I badly wanted the job, but knew that my age would probably tell against me.

My generation was raised on a diet of stultifyingly tedious, but worthy accounts of embryology, typically very badly printed on what appeared to be rice paper.

Equally badly behaved, but a little calmer and better informed, were the massive numbers from the labor unions.

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