shoddily

the adverb 'shoddily' is formed from the adjective 'shoddy', which entered english in the early 19th century from the trade term for a type of cheap cloth made from recycled wool. this fabric was notoriously poorly made and prone to falling apart. the term 'shoddy' was generalized to describe anything of inferior quality or careless construction. by adding the adverbial suffix '-ly', derived from old english, the word specifies the manner in which an action is performed—thus, to do something 'shoddily' is to do it in the way something of shoddy quality is made: carelessly and with poor materials.

Structure: shoddy (inferior quality) + ly (adverb-forming suffix) - shoddy: origin in english (19th century), from an earlier noun meaning 'reclaimed wool', used as an adjective to describe something made of inferior material. - ly: from old english '-līce', an adverb-forming suffix indicating manner or characteristic.