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british

poorly

[ poo r-lee ]

/ ˈpʊər li /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR poorly ON THESAURUS.COM

adverb

in a poor manner or way: The team played poorly.

adjective

in poor health; somewhat ill: I hear she's been poorly.

Origin of poorly

First recorded in 1250–1300, poorly is from the Middle English word pourely. See poor, -ly

Words nearby poorly

poor-spirited, poor-will, poorhouse, poori, poorish, poorly, poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphoma, poort, poortith, pooterish, pootle

Example sentences from the Web for poorly

Opened in Sept. 2002, this “poorly managed” detention facility was the second site opened by the CIA after the 9/11 attacks.

The Most Gruesome Moments in the CIA ‘Torture Report’ |Shane Harris, Tim Mak |December 9, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The problem, of course, is that the “me vs. not me” response can serve us poorly in the more social sense.

Ferguson, Immigration, and ‘Us Vs. Them’ |Gene Robinson |November 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Their fighting was poorly coordinated, their weapons were vintage pieces, mostly seized from the Ukrainian military.

East Ukraine: Back in the USSR |Jamie Dettmer |November 19, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The Denver debate went off without a hitch—except for President Obama, who did poorly, as I recall.

Behind the Scenes With a ‘Site Agent’: The Secret Service’s Hardest Job |Marc Ambinder |October 2, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

And when support goes up, so do the earnings of the Zaitokukai—earnings that are poorly accounted for and go untaxed.

For Top Pols In Japan Crime Doesn’t Pay, But Hate Crime Does |Jake Adelstein, Angela Erika Kubo |September 26, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
At a quarter past the hour she felt so poorly as to be compelled to retire to her room.

'Farewell, Nikola' |Guy Boothby
The meetings of Miss Anthony and her co-workers were but poorly attended and all but barren of results.

Labor and Freedom |Eugene V. Debs
Ah Fe, without removing his eyes from blank vacancy, saw that both Mrs. Tretherick and Carry were poorly dressed.

Tales of the Argonauts |Bret Harte
The expedition had been poorly outfitted and undermanned from the beginning.

Despoilers of the Golden Empire |Gordon Randall Garrett
These often are underdesigned even for initial loads, let alone for the growth that comes later, and most of them are poorly run.

The Nation's River |United States Department of the Interior

British Dictionary definitions for poorly

poorly

/ (ˈpʊəlɪ, ˈpɔː-) /

adverb

in a poor way or manner; badly

adjective

(usually postpositive) informal in poor health; rather ill she's poorly today