in a bad way—
1. in trouble; having serious problems:
- The basic exporting industries of Great Britain—coal, metallurgy and textiles—have been in a bad way.
2. (of health) in a bad or critical state:
- But one of the poor men who were hurt at the fire is dead, and another is, I fear, in a bad way.
3. (coll.) desire smth. greatly:
- It’s Friday morning and I’m wanting in a bad way to stand hip deep in the chilly current of a fast moving river.
4. fail or be defeated miserably:
- He has found himself dragged down by the Party and defeated in a bad way in a General Election.
in the worst way—
1. = in a bad way 3:
- I then wanted in the worst way to build a sail boat and sail around the world.
2. = in a bad way 4:
- To try a major novel about the last war in Europe without a sense of the past is to fail in the worst way.