Word library
Synonyms for badly
Synonyms for badly: poorly, mischievously and seriously. Every one of them is a hand audited pair from the Synonym Stack word bank, shown below in the sense it fits, in a real sentence, and beside the words that only look close.
The 3 synonyms for badly
Interchangeable with badly, one per sense
Audited under badly's own entry, so the meaning quoted is the one badly carries in that sense.
- poorlyadverb, in the sense "in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner"
- mischievouslyadverb, in the sense "in a disobedient or naughty way"
Recorded from the other side of the pair
These entries were written under the other word and name badly as the true synonym, so the sense quoted is theirs.
- seriouslyseriously is an adverb in the sense "to a severe or serious degree"
two of these come from badly's own entries in the bank, and one was audited from the other word's side of the pair. Both directions were read by a human, and only the sense quoted differs.
in a poor or improper or unsatisfactory manner
He performed badly on the exam.
The true synonym
poorly
Same sentence, swapped: He performed poorly on the exam.
Close but different
The game shows these three beside the answer. Each is a real word with a real meaning and none of them fits the slot badly is in above, which is the point the reason line makes.
- seriously
- mischievously
- hardly
in a disobedient or naughty way
He behaved badly in school.
The true synonym
mischievously
Same sentence, swapped: He behaved mischievously in school.
Close but different
The game offers these three alongside the answer. They are close enough to tempt and wrong enough to be wrong, which is the whole design.
- hardly
- hard
- roughly
Where badly turns up in the game
badly is the word under test in two puzzles, spread across two difficulty tiers. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in one other puzzle, where the answer is a different word entirely.
The puzzle where badly is the trap
- hardlyadverb, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is barely, in the sense "only a very short time before", and badly is on the board beside it.
Play badly
The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so badly reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.
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badly carries no theme tag, so the ring starts at Treeline and widens alphabetically.
Why the near miss missed, in the game as well as here
Synonym Stack plays from this exact bank. badly carries 1 written reason line, and the game shows them the moment a round ends, whichever tile you tapped.