Poorly

Examples

• She said her lady was but poorly, and kept her own room a good deal. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
• We get on poorly, said William; we're all out of work. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
• The best-looking among us will not look very well, lurking at a corner, and Bradley came out of that disadvantage very poorly indeed. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
• Very small, very low in the ceiling, very poorly furnished--but, oh, so neat! Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
• Little Georgette still piped her plaintive wail, appealing to me by her familiar termMinnie, Minnie, me very poorly! Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
• Personal initiative and individual genius are poorly regarded: many socialists are suspicious of originality. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
• Elizabeth's congratulations were given with a sincerity, a warmth, a delight, which words could but poorly express. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
• You were poorly, and I worried about you till I fell sick myself. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
• She is poorly to-day. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
• While he was yet undecided, she had quitted England; the news of his marriage reached her, and her hopes, poorly nurtured blossoms, withered and fell. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
• To devote my life to his happiness was to thank him poorly, and what had I wished for the other night but some new means of thanking him? Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
• Beth is very poorly, Mother says. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
• It's made him quite poorly. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
• Mr. Omer had taken it so much to heart, his daughter told me, that he had been very low and poorly all day, and had gone to bed without his pipe. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
• I didn't know that, he forgot, I suppose, and, as your grandpa was poorly, I didn't like to worry him by asking, though I did want some. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
• It was poorly furnished as a sitting-room, and it looked out on the backs of houses. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
• The bare walls had been coloured green, evidently by an unskilled hand, and were poorly decorated with a few prints. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
• I suppose if she's so poorly she won't go back to Bellomont in the morning, and I can come and see her then. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
• These two printers I found poorly qualified for their business. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
• John should na ha' left me, and me so poorly. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
• But very poorly, I'm afraid. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
• The speaker was a poorly-dressed young woman with a bundle under her arm. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
• It makes me very nervous and poorly, to be thwarted so in my own family, and to have neighbours who think of themselves before anybody else. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
• Aunt and Flo were poorly all the way, and liked to be let alone, so when I had done what I could for them, I went and enjoyed myself. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
• But the child who had done so much for him and had been so poorly repaid, was never out of his mind. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
• He found waiting for him, in the hall, a poorly clad but delicate and interesting-looking little boy. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
• I am just learning it, and while I understand it fairly well I speak it very poorly. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
• The doctor sent me word that he was poorly in health himself, but that he would call, if possible, the next morning. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
• An ugly woman, very poorly clothed, hurried in while I was glancing at them, and coming straight up to the mother, said, Jenny! Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
• He is poorly dressed, and yet does not appear to be a labourer. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.

Edited by Alison