Badly in Different Languages
Discover 'Badly' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'badly' is a small but powerful part of the English language, conveying a sense of negativity or poor condition. Its significance extends beyond mere semantics, as it can also indicate a strong desire or urgency for something to change. For example, saying 'I need help' versus 'I need help badly' carries very different connotations!
Culturally, the concept of 'bad' is universal, but the way different languages express this idea can vary greatly. For instance, in Spanish, 'badly' translates to 'mal' or 'malamente', while in French, 'mal' is used as well, but with a subtle difference in usage. Understanding these nuances can enhance your communication skills and foster deeper connections with people around the world.
Moreover, the word 'badly' has a rich historical context, with roots in Old English and Germanic languages. Its evolution over time reflects the changing nature of language and society itself.
So, whether you're a language enthusiast, a world traveler, or simply curious, exploring the translations of 'badly' in different languages can be a fun and enlightening journey. Let's dive in!
Badly
Badly in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | sleg | ||
| "Sleg" is a variant of "slegt", which originated from the Dutch word "slecht" meaning "bad", "poor" or "wrong". | |||
| Amharic | መጥፎ | ||
| መጥፎ derives from the Ge'ez word መጥፈት ('to be in vain') and initially meant 'in vain', 'uselessly' | |||
| Hausa | da kyau | ||
| The Hausa word "da kyau" can also mean "very well" or "beautifully." | |||
| Igbo | merụsịrị | ||
| "Merụsịrị" is derived from the verb "rụsị" (to spoil), conveying the sense of something that is flawed or imperfect. | |||
| Malagasy | ratsy | ||
| The word "ratsy" in Malagasy also means "dirty" or "unclean". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | zoipa | ||
| As its synonym 'zopalipa' reveals, 'zoipa' is based on the verb 'kuopa' (to be lame) and hence emphasizes the physical aspect of badness. | |||
| Shona | zvakashata | ||
| Zvakashata can also mean `in a great quantity` or `excessively` in Shona. | |||
| Somali | xun | ||
| The word "xun" can also mean "a bad person" or "an evil spirit" in Somali. | |||
| Sesotho | hampe | ||
| Hampe's alternate meaning in Sesotho is 'very' or 'much,' as in 'It is very hot today.' | |||
| Swahili | vibaya | ||
| The word "vibaya" in Swahili can also mean "incorrectly" or "in vain". | |||
| Xhosa | kakubi | ||
| The word "kakubi" in Xhosa can also be used to refer to a "poorly made" or "substandard" object or situation. | |||
| Yoruba | buburu | ||
| The word "buburu" can also mean "badness" or "evil" in Yoruba. | |||
| Zulu | kabi | ||
| The Zulu word "kabi" can also mean "not" or "never". | |||
| Bambara | jugumanba | ||
| Ewe | vɔ̃ɖitɔe | ||
| Kinyarwanda | nabi | ||
| Lingala | mabe mpenza | ||
| Luganda | bubi nnyo | ||
| Sepedi | gampe | ||
| Twi (Akan) | bɔne | ||
Badly in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | بشكل سيئ | ||
| In Arabic, "بشكل سيئ" can also mean "in a severe manner" or "in a negative way." | |||
| Hebrew | בצורה גרועה | ||
| The phrase "בצורה גרועה" can also mean "roughly" or "approximately" in some contexts. | |||
| Pashto | بد | ||
| 'بد' also refers to 'never doing' something in Pashto. | |||
| Arabic | بشكل سيئ | ||
| In Arabic, "بشكل سيئ" can also mean "in a severe manner" or "in a negative way." | |||
Badly in Western European Languages
| Albanian | keq | ||
| The Albanian word “keq” originates from the Proto-Albanian word *kejkʷu-, meaning “bad, evil” but also “left side”. | |||
| Basque | gaizki | ||
| The form gaizki means not only "badly" but also "difficult" or "hard to do". | |||
| Catalan | malament | ||
| Malament comes from the Catalan term malamentum, meaning "evil" or "wickedness; harm". | |||
| Croatian | loše | ||
| The word "Loše" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "lošь", meaning "bad" or "evil." | |||
| Danish | dårligt | ||
| The word "dårligt" in Danish can also mean "hardly" or "scarcely." | |||
| Dutch | slecht | ||
| The Dutch word "slecht" can also mean "simple, humble, or insignificant." | |||
| English | badly | ||
| The word "badly" can also mean "severely" or "greatly", as in "I was badly injured in the accident." | |||
| French | mal | ||
| "Mal" can also mean "sickness" in French, as in the phrase "avoir le mal de tête" ("to have a headache"). | |||
| Frisian | min | ||
| The word "min" in Frisian can also mean "less" or "few". | |||
| Galician | mal | ||
| Galician "mal" comes from Latin "male", meaning "to do something wrong". It can also mean "illness", "sickness" or "bad luck". | |||
| German | schlecht | ||
| "Schlecht" can also mean "simply" or "without adornment". | |||
| Icelandic | illa | ||
| The Icelandic word "illa" can also refer to "poorly" or "badly" in the sense of "unfavorably" or "unpleasantly." | |||
| Irish | go dona | ||
| The archaic meaning of "go dona" was not in a negative sense but instead meant "completely" or "thoroughly". | |||
| Italian | male | ||
| The Italian word "male" can also mean "ill" or "unwell". | |||
| Luxembourgish | schlecht | ||
| In the Luxembourgish dialect of German, "schlecht" can mean "quickly" or "lightly", depending on context. | |||
| Maltese | ħażin | ||
| Maltese "ħażin" is of Arabic origin with the root "ha-sa-na" which means either "to be evil", or "to be good". Thus "ħażin" can sometimes mean "good" in some archaic expressions. | |||
| Norwegian | dårlig | ||
| The word "dårlig" also means "sick" or "ill" in Norwegian. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | seriamente | ||
| The word "seriamente" can also mean "seriously" in Portuguese, and is derived from the Latin word "serius" meaning "grave" or "earnest." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | gu dona | ||
| The word "gu dona" is an adverb and means "badly" and is derived from the Gaelic "-don" meaning "down" and "go" meaning "to". | |||
| Spanish | mal | ||
| The Spanish "mal" can also be used as a noun, meaning "illness" or "evil," and shares its etymology with "malaise" | |||
| Swedish | dåligt | ||
| The word "dåligt" in Swedish can also mean weak, ill, poor, little, or insufficient. | |||
| Welsh | yn wael | ||
| "Yn wael" is formed from "yn" (a preposition meaning "in, into, or at") and "gwael" (a noun meaning "base, bottom, root") | |||
Badly in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | дрэнна | ||
| "Дрэнна" (badly) is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*dьrьnъ", meaning "thorn", "nettle", or "difficulty", and is related to the Old Church Slavonic word "дрънь" (thorn), the Russian word "дрянь" (trash), and the Bulgarian word "дрен" (thorn). | |||
| Bosnian | loše | ||
| The word "loše" in Bosnian can also refer to physical weakness or a lack of something. | |||
| Bulgarian | зле | ||
| Originally used to refer to illness, 'зле' still often carries this meaning in modern Bulgarian. | |||
| Czech | špatně | ||
| The Czech word "špatně" has cognates in other Slavic languages, such as the Polish "spadnie", which means "to fall". In ancient Czech, "špatně" also had this meaning, but it has since taken on the meaning of "badly". | |||
| Estonian | halvasti | ||
| The word "halvasti" can also mean "in vain" or "at a loss"} | |||
| Finnish | huonosti | ||
| "Huonosti" comes from "huono" (bad) and the suffix "-sti" (adverbial), so it literally means "badly". | |||
| Hungarian | rosszul | ||
| "Rosszul" comes from the Proto-Uralic "*roka-" meaning "faulty, wrong, bad" and has cognates such as Finnish "rukoilema" (pray), Estonian "ruugata" (curse), and Turkish "rukye" (magic spell). | |||
| Latvian | slikti | ||
| Slikti is derived from the Proto-Baltic root *sleik- meaning “bad, evil” and is related to Lithuanian *sliktis (“bad, evil”) and Old Prussian *slaiks (“bad, evil”). | |||
| Lithuanian | blogai | ||
| The Lithuanian word "blogai" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bhlēǵ- ("to strike"), and is related to the English word "blow". | |||
| Macedonian | лошо | ||
| The term "лошо" is also used in a secondary sense to express feelings of regret, sadness, or unhappiness. | |||
| Polish | źle | ||
| The original meaning of "źle" was "evil." | |||
| Romanian | prost | ||
| The word "prost" in Romanian also means "vulgar" or "uncivilized". | |||
| Russian | плохо | ||
| The Russian word "плохо" not only means "badly" but also "bad" and "sick." | |||
| Serbian | лоше | ||
| The word 'лоше' is cognate with the Russian 'лош' ('bad') and the Old Church Slavonic 'лошн', meaning either 'bad' or 'ill'. | |||
| Slovak | zle | ||
| "Zle" can also mean "sick" in Slovak, such as in "Cítim sa zle" (I feel sick). | |||
| Slovenian | slabo | ||
| The word "slabo" in Slovenian can also mean "weak" or "feeble" and derives from the Proto-Slavic word *sъlabъ, meaning "weak, feeble, or poor." | |||
| Ukrainian | погано | ||
| The root, "погань," of the word "погано" has the connotations of "unclean," "vile," and even "diabolical" in pre-Christian Slavic tradition. | |||
Badly in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | খারাপভাবে | ||
| খারাপভাবে also means "in a serious or severe way". | |||
| Gujarati | ખરાબ રીતે | ||
| Hindi | बुरी तरह | ||
| The Sanskrit origin of "बुरी तरह" is the past tense form of the verb "vr" meaning to cover and the word means badly in both Sanskrit and Hindi and is also an adverb to mean in a negative fashion. | |||
| Kannada | ಕೆಟ್ಟದಾಗಿ | ||
| The Kannada word "ಕೆಟ್ಟದಾಗಿ" can also be used to refer to something that has gone bad, such as food or milk. | |||
| Malayalam | മോശമായി | ||
| The word "മോശമായി" ("badly") also means "in vain" or "to no purpose". | |||
| Marathi | वाईटरित्या | ||
| The word "वाईटरित्या" (vaitrit'ya) in Marathi has a Sanskrit origin, stemming from "vyatrita"," which means "separated". | |||
| Nepali | नराम्ररी | ||
| "नराम्ररी" can also mean 'without grace' or 'inappropriately'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਬੁਰੀ ਤਰਾਂ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | නරක ලෙස | ||
| The word "නරක ලෙස" is derived from the Sanskrit word "नरक" (hell), and it can also mean "wickedly" or "sinfully". | |||
| Tamil | மோசமாக | ||
| The term "மோசமாக" can refer to both bad quality and deception in Tamil. | |||
| Telugu | చెడుగా | ||
| The word 'చెడుగా' can also mean 'to spoil' or 'to go bad'. | |||
| Urdu | بری طرح | ||
| The phrase literally means 'by way of the wind', which implies an action done randomly without a plan. | |||
Badly in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 严重地 | ||
| 严重地, Mandarin translation of 'badly', meaning 'bad' or 'harsh' | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 嚴重地 | ||
| Originally meant something that is of utmost importance, the word “嚴重地” is also used to express the degree of a situation’s seriousness. | |||
| Japanese | ひどく | ||
| "ひどく" is also used in the sense of "very" or "extremely" | |||
| Korean | 심하게 | ||
| 심하게 can also mean 'intensively', 'seriously', 'hard', or 'severely'. | |||
| Mongolian | муу | ||
| The word "муу" can also mean "wrong" or "incorrect". It is derived from the Mongolian word "муух" ("to fail") | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဆိုးဆိုးရွားရွား | ||
Badly in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | sangat | ||
| "Sangat" is derived from the Sanskrit word "sanghata," meaning "congregation," which explains its usage to indicate intensity or degree. | |||
| Javanese | ala banget | ||
| The word "ala banget" in Javanese can also mean "very good" or "extremely". | |||
| Khmer | អាក្រក់ណាស់ | ||
| អាក្រក់ណាស់ can be used with a verb that is in the past tense to indicate an action that occurred only one time in the past. | |||
| Lao | ບໍ່ດີ | ||
| The word ບໍ່ດີ translates to 'badly' in English and can also be used to describe something that is 'not good'. | |||
| Malay | teruk | ||
| "Teruk" is a Malay word meaning "badly" that was originally derived from the Sanskrit word "taruk" which means "difficult". | |||
| Thai | ไม่ดี | ||
| The root word "ไม่" is used as negation, while "ดี" can mean "good" or "well", so as a whole "ไม่ดี" can also mean "no good" or "not well". | |||
| Vietnamese | tệ | ||
| The word "tệ" also refers to the currency of pre-colonial Vietnam, which was a form of paper money known as "giấy tệ". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | masama | ||
Badly in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | pis | ||
| The word "pis" in Azerbaijani can also mean "dirty" or "filthy". | |||
| Kazakh | жаман | ||
| The word "жаман" may also refer to something that is unfavorable or unsatisfactory. | |||
| Kyrgyz | жаман | ||
| *Жаман* is originally of Persian origin, where *jaman* was a term denoting an unfavorable time, such as *jumanah* (bad times). | |||
| Tajik | бад | ||
| The word "бад" in Tajik can also mean "worse" or "badly damaged" | |||
| Turkmen | erbet | ||
| Uzbek | yomon | ||
| The word "yomon" can also mean "wrong" or "incorrect" in Uzbek. | |||
| Uyghur | ناچار | ||
Badly in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | maikaʻi ʻole | ||
| ‘Aika’i‘ole is used more generally than ‘ino’ to express a lack of excellence or goodness. | |||
| Maori | kino | ||
| Kino also means 'faeces' or 'filth' in Maori and is related to the word 'kino' meaning 'bad' or 'evil'. | |||
| Samoan | leaga | ||
| The word "leaga" in Samoan can also mean "lazy" or "clumsy". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | masama | ||
| The term 'masama' can also refer to an unripe piece of fruit or the poor condition of something | |||
Badly in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | jan wali | ||
| Guarani | ivaieterei | ||
Badly in International Languages
| Esperanto | malbone | ||
| The Esperanto word "malbone" originally meant "in an improper manner". | |||
| Latin | male | ||
| Male also meant "faulty" or "inferior" in Latin | |||
Badly in Others Languages
| Greek | κακώς | ||
| The word κακώς derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *keh₂p-, meaning "to seize, hold, cover, hide, or protect". | |||
| Hmong | phem | ||
| The Hmong word "phem" can also mean "bad" or "inferior". | |||
| Kurdish | xirab | ||
| The word "xirab" also means "ugly". | |||
| Turkish | kötü | ||
| The word 'kötü' (badly) in Turkish may be derived from the Turkish word 'köt' (evil) or the Arabic word 'qat' (bad). | |||
| Xhosa | kakubi | ||
| The word "kakubi" in Xhosa can also be used to refer to a "poorly made" or "substandard" object or situation. | |||
| Yiddish | באַדלי | ||
| In addition to its common meaning of "badly," the Yiddish word "באַדלי" can also refer to a type of small barrel. | |||
| Zulu | kabi | ||
| The Zulu word "kabi" can also mean "not" or "never". | |||
| Assamese | বেয়াকৈ | ||
| Aymara | jan wali | ||
| Bhojpuri | बुरा तरह से भइल | ||
| Dhivehi | ނުބައިކޮށް | ||
| Dogri | बुरी तरह | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | masama | ||
| Guarani | ivaieterei | ||
| Ilocano | dakes ti kasasaadna | ||
| Krio | bad bad wan | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | خراپی | ||
| Maithili | बुरी तरहेँ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯐꯠꯇꯕꯥ ꯃꯑꯣꯡꯗꯥ꯫ | ||
| Mizo | chhe takin | ||
| Oromo | hamaa ta’ee | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଖରାପ | ||
| Quechua | mana allinta | ||
| Sanskrit | दुष्टतया | ||
| Tatar | начар | ||
| Tigrinya | ብሕማቕ | ||
| Tsonga | hi ndlela yo biha | ||