badly off

adjective

In unfortunate circumstances, especially having financial difficulty.

Similar
poor
Opposite
well offrich
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Meanings

adjectivebadly off (comparative worse off or more badly off, superlative worst off or most badly off)

comparative worse off · comparative more badly off · superlative worst off · superlative most badly off · alternative badly-off · alternative bad off · alternative bad-off

  1. In unfortunate circumstances, especially having financial difficulty.

    The animals were not badly off throughout that summer, in spite of the hardness of their work.

    1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC

    Synonyms: poor

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveIn unfortunate circumstances, especially having financial difficulty.

Similar
poor
Opposite
well offrich
Also see
bad offbankruptbrokebrokenclose to the bonedestituteemptyhandedgoodlesshard upimpoverishedindigentmoneylesspennilesspenuriouspoorpoor as a church mousepoverty-strickenskintstonystuckthreadbare

Translations

Finnish huonolla tolalla, huonossa jamassa
  • huonolla tolallaIn unfortunate circumstances
  • huonossa jamassaIn unfortunate circumstances
German schlecht dran
  • schlecht dranIn unfortunate circumstances
Polish źle sytuowany, w trudnym położeniu
  • źle sytuowanyIn unfortunate circumstances
  • w trudnym położeniuIn unfortunate circumstances
Cite this entry
APA

badly off. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/badly%20off

MLA

“badly off.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/badly%20off. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “badly off,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/badly%20off.

Source: badly off on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.