English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- verse (Bermuda)
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English worse, werse, from Old English wiersa, from Proto-Germanic *wirsizô. Cognate with Dutch wers (“worse”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /wɜːs/
- (US) IPA(key): /wɝs/
- (US, New York City, archaic) IPA(key): [wəɪs]
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)s
Adjective[edit]
worse
- comparative form of bad: more bad
- Your exam results are worse than before.
- The harder you try, the worse you do.
- comparative form of ill: more ill
- She was very ill last week but this week she’s worse.
Derived terms[edit]
- go from bad to worse
- worse for wear
[edit]
- worst
Translations[edit]
comparative form of bad
- Arabic: أَسْوَأ (ʔaswaʔ)
- Armenian: ավելի վատ (aveli vat)
- Azerbaijani: daha pis, pis (az), betər
- Belarusian: го́ршы (hóršy)
- Bulgarian: по-лош (bg) (po-loš)
- Catalan: pitjor (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 更壞／更坏 (gèng huài), 更糟 (gèng zāo), 比較壞／比较坏 (bǐjiào huài)
- Cornish: gweth
- Czech: horší (cs)
- Danish: værre, dårligere
- Dutch: slechter (nl), erger (nl)
- Esperanto: pli malbona
- Finnish: huonompi (fi)
- French: pire (fr), plus mauvais
- Friulian: piês
- Galician: peor, pior
- Georgian: უფრო ცუდი (upro cudi), უარესი (uaresi)
- German: schlechter (de), schlimmer (de), ärger (de)
- Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍃𐌹𐌶𐌰 (wairsiza)
- Greek:
- Ancient: ἥσσων (hḗssōn), χείρων (kheírōn)
- Italian: peggiore (it)
- Japanese: さらに…悪い (sara ni…warui), もっと悪い (もっとわるい, motto warui), いっそう悪い (いっそうわるい, issō warui), より悪い (…yori warui)
- Khmer: អាក្រក់ជាង (aakrɑk cieŋ)
- Korean: 더 나쁜 (deo nappeun)
- Ladin: piec
- Latin: pēior (la), nēquior, dēterior
- Macedonian: полош (pološ)
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: verre (no), dårligere
- Nynorsk: verre, dårlegare
- Occitan: pièger (oc)
- Old English: wiersa
- Persian: بدتر (fa) (badtar)
- Polish: gorszy (pl) m
- Portuguese: pior (pt)
- Romansch: mender, pês, pêr
- Russian: ху́же (ru) (xúže), ху́дший (ru) (xúdšij)
- Sardinian: pejus, peus
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ло̏шијӣ, го̏рӣ
- Roman: lȍšijī (sh), gȍrī (sh)
- Sicilian: peggiu (scn)
- Slovak: horší
- Slovene: slabši (sl)
- Spanish: peor (es)
- Swedish: värre (sv), sämre (sv)
- Thai: เลวกว่า, แย่กว่า
- Ukrainian: гі́рший (híršyj)
- Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
- Walloon: peyeu (wa) m, pé (wa) m or f
- Welsh: gwaeth
Adverb[edit]
worse
- comparative form of badly (adverb): more badly
-
2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children’s brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:
-
Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
-
-
He drives worse than anyone I know.
-
- comparative form of ill: more ill.
-
He’s worse-mannered than she is.
-
- Less skillfully.
- More severely or seriously.
- (sentence adverb) Used to start a sentence describing something that is worse.
-
Her leg is infected. Still worse, she’s developing a fever.
-
Translations[edit]
comparative of badly
- Armenian: ավելի վատ (aveli vat)
- Azerbaijani: pis (az), daha pis, betər
- Belarusian: горш (horš)
- Czech: hůře (cs)
- Danish: værre, dårligere
- Finnish: huonommin, pahemmin (fi)
- French: plus mal
- German: schlechter (de), schlimmer (de)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: verre (no), dårligere
- Nynorsk: verre, dårlegare
- Old English: wiers
- Polish: gorzej (pl)
- Portuguese: pior (pt)
- Russian: ху́же (ru) (xúže)
- Slovak: horšie
- Swedish: värre (sv), sämre (sv)
- Ukrainian: гі́рше (hírše)
Verb[edit]
worse (third-person singular simple present worses, present participle worsing, simple past and past participle worsed)
- (obsolete, transitive) To make worse; to put at disadvantage; to discomfit.
-
1667, John Milton, “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
-
Weapons more violent, when next we meet, / May serve to better us and worse our foes.
-
-
Noun[edit]
worse
- (obsolete) Loss; disadvantage; defeat.
- That which is worse; something less good.
-
Do not think the worse of him for his enterprise.
-
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for worse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)
Anagrams[edit]
- Rowse, WOREs, owers, owres, resow, rowse, serow, sower, sowre, swore
Afrikaans[edit]
Noun[edit]
worse
- plural of wors
Chinese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From English worse.
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /wœs⁵⁵/
Adjective[edit]
worse
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) bad; terrible
-
2012 January 20, quoting 楊千樺, “楊千嬅最壞打算屋企生”, in 東方日報[1]:
-
「醫生幫我搞好晒！應該冇問題卦！不過如果好worse嘅話，惟有用最古老方法喺屋企生囉！咁突發都估計唔到架！」
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
-
-
2020 January 22, quoting 馬仲儀, “【武漢肺炎大爆發】新病毒與冬季流感同時殺到 前線醫護憂隱性個案爆發”, in 眾新聞[2]:
-
「逼到你伸開隻手就掂到對方（鄰床病人），好worse㗎嘛。」
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
-
-
2020 May 31, quoting 阿然, “【香港的傷痕】一名大學生的四件事——上Gear、被捕、求醫、見官”, in 獨立媒體[3]:
-
「如果我變返做勇武，咁情況一定好worse（糟糕），有啲嘢令我睇唔過眼。」
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
-
-
2022 May 27, quoting 黃世英, “【母親節】乳癌化療期再染新冠撐過痛楚 媽媽：只想三代同堂樂聚天倫”, in 香港經濟日報 TOPick[4]:
-
自己當時懷孕近九個月，而疫情嚴重，不方便外出，一想到不能探望、買物資送給在家隔離的媽媽，心裡非常擔憂，睇唔到佢幾辛苦，我又大住肚，嗰日喊咗一個朝早，覺得好無助，世界好worse（糟糕），公立醫院冇晒資源。
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
-
-
хуже, сильнее, худший, худшее
наречие ↓
- (ещё) хуже
you are playing worse than you did last week — вы играете хуже, чем на прошлой неделе 
the patient has been taken worse — больному стало (ещё) хуже
the remedy is worse than useless — это лекарство не только бесполезно, но и вредно
- сильнее, больше
it is raining worse than ever — дождь всё усиливается
I hate [fear] him worse than before — я его ещё сильнее ненавижу [ещё больше боюсь]
none the worse — ничуть не меньше; ещё сильнее
I like him none the worse for being outspoken — я ещё больше люблю его за откровенность
she is worse off than before — её положение усугубилось /стало ещё хуже/
прилагательное ↓
- худший; (ещё) хуже
to make matters worse … — разг. и в довершение всего /всех неприятностей/ …
what is worse … — разг. и что ещё хуже …
it’s not a bad mark, but it’s worse than your usual one — это неплохая оценка, но хуже обычной
he escaped with nothing worse than a fright — он отделался испугом
существительное ↓
Мои примеры
Словосочетания
a nation ruled by a series of despotic rulers, each seemingly worse than the last — страна, которой управлял целый ряд правителей-деспотов, каждый из который казался хуже прошлого
change for the worse — перемена к худшему, ухудшение, падение, регресс, спад
in drink, the worse for drink — в пьяном виде, пьяный
much worse — намного хуже
not a penny the worse — нисколько не хуже
to be worse than one’s word — нарушать слово
change / turn for the worse — перемена к худшему
worse than death — очень плохой
a degree better / worse — чуть лучше / хуже
to take a turn for the worse — измениться к худшему, ухудшиться
to make somebody worse — залечивать
Примеры с переводом
I feel worse today.
Сегодня мне хуже.
Things could be worse.
Все могло быть и хуже.
He became a lot worse.
Ему стало намного хуже.
Worse cannot happen.
Ничего худшего не может случиться.
This one is no worse than that one.
Этот ничем не хуже, чем тот.
You’ll only make bad worse.
Вы же сделаете ещё хуже.
If she’s worse in the morning, I’ll call the doctor.
Если утром ей станет хуже, я вызову врача.
ещё 23 примера свернуть
Примеры, ожидающие перевода
You have even worse luck than I do. 
He could do worse than marry Eleanor.
He played badly but I played even worse.
Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке ☰, напротив примера.
Фразовые глаголы
Возможные однокоренные слова
worsen — ухудшаться, ухудшать
Adjective
His schoolwork got worse after his parents split up.
Her second book was worse than her first one.
Her first book was bad, but her second one is even worse.
This one is no worse than that one.
Could the situation get any worse?
You have even worse luck than I do.
It turned out to be a worse idea than we originally thought.
She ended up in worse shape than when she started.
Things are bad for him now, but he was in a worse situation last week.
Cheer up. Things could be worse, you know.
Noun
I didn’t want to tell her that worse was yet to come.
Her accusations don’t bother me. I’ve been accused of worse.
When I lost my job, my life took a turn for the worse.
Adverb
I did much worse on my second try.
You drive worse than he does.
That isn’t an excellent score, but you could have done worse.
She was hurt worse than I was.
See More
Recent Examples on the Web
In the meantime, practicing some good nail care habits recommended by the National Psoriasis Foundation can help keep nail psoriasis from getting worse.
—
Petra Guglielmetti, Glamour, 13 Feb. 2023
Donovan looked to the four-point deficit with a sense of relief — things could be much, much worse.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2023
Data from the National Association of Realtors show the metropolitan Baltimore area’s housing crunch is only getting worse.
—Giacomo Bologna, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2023
Five years after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled government persecution in Myanmar, rights activists say conditions at refugee camps in Bangladesh are getting worse.
—Tanbirul Miraj Ripon, NBC News, 1 Feb. 2023
And new figures show that rather than improving, the problem has been getting worse.
—Jon Marcus, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Jan. 2023
Law enforcement sources also believe Tran was having unspecified emotional problems that had been getting worse in the weeks before the shooting.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2023
While the future is looking better, right now things are still getting worse.
—WIRED, 24 Jan. 2023
Essentially those factors compound the climate change factors which are also getting worse.
—Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 22 Jan. 2023
What made the prejudice worse was that the entire institutional infrastructure of college basketball was in on it; coaches, athletic directors and alumni.
—John Kass, chicagotribune.com, 27 Mar. 2018
If your hands are prone to swelling, trapping them in a material that retains heat will only make your swelling worse.
—Sarah Bradley, Verywell Health, 14 Mar. 2023
James McCann, the Orioles’ new backup catcher, had minus-six blocks above average each of the past two years with the New York Mets; only seven of the 66 qualified catchers performed worse in 2022.
—Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore Sun, 7 Mar. 2023
And any hopes that being able to work from home and avoid a grueling Monday morning commute would help ease Sunday night anxiety have been dashed by the study, which found remote workers are worse-hit.
—Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 22 Feb. 2023
Fire has made all of the downsides of a climate-sensitive dream town worse and has underscored the divide between people who can be mobile and flexible and those who don’t have that luxury.
—Heather Hansman, Outside Online, 8 Nov. 2021
The White House argues that canceling the debt will ensure that borrowers do not wind up worse off financially post-pandemic when federal student loan payments, which have been paused for almost three years, resume.
—Alicia Adamczyk, Fortune, 18 Feb. 2023
So, for many people, dust mites can spark an allergic reaction and make symptoms of allergies and asthma worse.
—Korin Miller, Health, 26 Jan. 2023
Twitter performed worse on that metric than any other social media platform tested, according to the report, but some of them including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok fell behind as well compared to the previous year.
—David Ingram, NBC News, 24 Nov. 2022
Making the flooding even worse and adding to concerns, two dams broke in the northeastern cities of Jussiape and Itambe on Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
—Natasha Dado, PEOPLE.com, 28 Dec. 2021
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘worse.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Other forms: worser; worses
Worse means «not as good as something else» or «changed negatively,» like a sore throat that is getting worse, meaning it hurts more now.
Worse comes from the Old Saxon word werran or «to entangle, compound.» To compound is to add to, so if troubles, complication, or anything else that entangles are added to a situation, it will get worse. Remember that worse is used to compare two things, such as «now» and «before,» while worst compares three or more things. You might use worse than yesterday, but this doesn’t make it the worst cold you ever had.
Definitions of worse
-
adjective
(comparative of `bad’) inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability
“this road is
worse than the first one we took”“the road is in
worse shape than it was”“she was accused of
worse things than cheating and lying”-
Synonyms:
-
worsened
made or become worse; impaired
see moresee less-
Antonyms:
-
better
(comparative of `good’) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
-
amended
modified for the better
-
finer
(comparative of `fine’) greater in quality or excellence
-
improved
become or made better in quality
- show more antonyms…
-
worsened
-
adjective
changed for the worse in health or fitness
“I feel
worse today”“her cold is
worse”-
synonyms:
worsened
-
adverb
(comparative of `ill’) in a less effective or successful or desirable manner
“he did
worse on the second exam” -
noun
something inferior in quality or condition or effect
“for better or for
worse”“accused of cheating and lying and
worse”
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘worse’.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Send us feedback
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- Top Definitions
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This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.
This shows grade level based on the word’s complexity.
adjective, comparative of bad and ill, withworst as superlative.
bad or ill in a greater or higher degree; inferior in excellence, quality, or character.
more unfavorable or injurious.
in less good condition; in poorer health.
noun
adverb
in a more evil, wicked, severe, or disadvantageous manner.
with more severity, intensity, etc.; in a greater degree.
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Origin of worse
First recorded before 900; Middle English (adjective, adverb, and noun); Old English wiersa (comparative adjective), wiers (adverb); cognate with Old Norse verri, Gothic wairsiza; see war2
Words nearby worse
worrit, worry, worry beads, worryguts, worrywart, worse, worse for wear, worsen, worser, worset, worship
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Words related to worse
How to use worse in a sentence
-
I would say that changing Section 230 would actually make those problems even worse, because you’re going to start to provide incentives for platforms to moderate less.
-
Though we seemed to crest this wave a few weeks ago, epidemiologists are concerned that the upcoming holiday season and the travel and small gatherings that accompany it, could make the surge even worse.
-
The pandemic has ravaged the local economy and could make the situation even worse.
-
If it spreads here, it will make an already-bad situation even worse.
-
Meanwhile, climate change is making existing deficiencies worse.
-
A Republican candidate hoping to win red state support could find a worse team to root for than one from Dallas.
-
Among whites, the situation is also bad — in some ways, even worse.
-
The headaches, fevers (and worse) you may experience on Thursday are nothing new.
-
Or is it simply that what you are hearing and seeing about race in the media seems worse?
-
Worse still is how much of this is being made into performance.
-
Conditions in the new country had gone from bad to worse, and if the season should experience another drought, the worst was come.
-
He saw that the situation was worse than even he had bargained for, and all his irresolution began to return upon him.
-
Hence, shortage of ammunition and shortage of water, which last was the worse felt to-day.
-
“Alas, mon bon Monsieur, it goes from bad to worse,” sighed the old man.
-
Lyn was looking at me intently, and her voice was steady; that squeezed kind of steadiness that is almost worse than tears.
British Dictionary definitions for worse
adjective
the comparative of bad 1
none the worse for not harmed by (adverse events or circumstances)
the worse for wear
- shabby or worn
- a slang term for drunk
worse luck! informal unhappily; unfortunately
worse off (postpositive) in a worse, esp a worse financial, condition
noun
something that is worse
for the worse into a less desirable or inferior state or conditiona change for the worse
go from bad to worse to deteriorate even more
adverb
in a more severe or unpleasant manner
in a less effective or successful manner
Word Origin for worse
Old English wiersa; related to Old Frisian werra, Old High German wirsiro, Old Norse verri, Gothic wairsiza
Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with worse
In addition to the idiom beginning with worse
- worse for wear
also see:
- all the (worse)
- bark is worse than one’s bite
- fate worse than death
- for better or for worse
- from bad to worse
- if worst comes to worst
- none the worse
- take a turn for the better (worse)
Also see underworst.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.