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Added 1 October 2026

worse

/wɜːs/ adjective

Categories: Describing WordsEveryday Words

In Latin: peior, nēquior, dēterior Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about worse at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. comparative form of bad: more bad
    Your exam results are worse than before.

adverb

  1. comparative form of badly (adverb): more badly
    The harder you try, the worse you do.
  2. Less skillfully.
    He drives worse than anyone else I know.
  3. More severely or seriously.
    The bad news affected me worse than it did my brother.

noun

  1. Loss; disadvantage; defeat
  2. That which is worse; something less good.
    Do not think the worse of him for his enterprise.

verb

  1. To make worse; to put at disadvantage; to discomfit.

Origin

From Middle English worse, werse, from Old English wiersa, from Proto-West Germanic *wirsiʀō, from Proto-Germanic *wirsizô. Cognate with Dutch wers (“worse”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: worsenedlesserlessharderinfidellowermoretopsbiggerweakerstrongersatan

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