badly
/ˈbæd.li/
The verdict
“badly” is an uncommon Portuguese word, ranked #91,628 in Portuguese word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #91,628
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - mal
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | badly |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈbæd.li/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #91,628 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “badly” sits in Portuguese frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Portuguese entry for badly is 5 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbæd.li/. Corpus data places it at rank #91,628 in overall Portuguese word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for badly, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct Portuguese form is badly, spelled B-A-D-L-Y.
Definition
- 1mal
- 2mal (de maneira não adequada como por exemplo, para o tempo frio)
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “badly”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is B-A-D-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbæd.li/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.