Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective More inferior, as in quality, condition, or effect.
- adjective More severe or unfavorable.
- adjective Being further from a standard; less desirable or satisfactory.
- adjective Being in poorer health; more ill.
- noun Something that is worse.
- adverb In a worse manner; to a worse degree.
- idiom (for better or (for) worse) Whether the situation or consequences be good or ill.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To become worse.
- To worst; put to disadvantage; discomfit.
- In a more evil, wicked, severe, or disadvantageous manner; in a way that is less good, desirable, or favorable.
- In a less or lower degree; less.
- Less favorably or agreeably.
- With more severity, intensity, etc.; in a greater degree.
- The comparative of bad, evil, ill; more bad, evil, ill, unfortunate, or undesirable; less valuable or perfect; more unfavorable or unsuccessful; less well in health, or less well off in worldly circumstances. See bad, evil, and ill.
- Sometimes used substantively in the sense of something less good, desirable, fortunate, favorable, etc.
- In logic, having, as a proposition, a character which, if belonging to one of two or more premises, must also belong to the conclusion.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In a worse degree; in a manner more evil or bad.
- Bad, ill, evil, or corrupt, in a greater degree; more bad or evil; less good; specifically, in poorer health; more sick; -- used both in a physical and moral sense.
- noun Loss; disadvantage; defeat.
- noun That which is worse; something less good.
- transitive verb To make worse; to put disadvantage; to discomfit; to worst. See
worst , v.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
comparative form ofbad : morebad - adjective this sense?) More ill.
- adjective this sense?) Of lower quality, less desirable.
- adjective this sense?) More severe or serious.
- adjective this sense?) More evil.
- adverb
comparative form ofbadly : morebadly - adverb
comparative form ofill : moreill - adverb Less skillfully.
- adverb More severely or seriously.
- adverb Used to start a sentence.
- verb obsolete, transitive To make worse; to put at
disadvantage ; todiscomfit .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun something inferior in quality or condition or effect
- adjective changed for the worse in health or fitness
- adverb (comparative of `ill') in a less effective or successful or desirable manner
- adjective (comparative of `bad') inferior to another in quality or condition or desirability
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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They made worse than nothing of it -- _worse_, I say, because they let and hindered those who might have made something of it.
Fragments of science, V. 1-2 John Tyndall 1856
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If the Opera is to be performed the day after to-morrow, there must be another private rehearsal to-morrow, or _each time it will be given worse and worse_.
Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826, Volume 1 Ludwig van Beethoven 1798
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The general banter throughout the program between her, John, and I was fine for the most part until Adrienne’s frustration kept getting worse and worse
ugotsoul Diary Entry ugotsoul 2002
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IV. ii.71 (498,7) To do worse to you, were fell cruelty] To do _worse_ is, to let her and her children be destroyed without warning.
Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Samuel Johnson 1746
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What makes this worse is the fact that I have to imagine that a very large number of cars flooded, thus how many are post-K purchases?
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What makes this worse is the fact that I don't believe in shitty first drafts.
Writing blues joshenglish 2006
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He did not like the Society, which he described as a worse scourge to humanity than communism.
Cavour Martinengo-Cesaresco, Countess Evelyn 1898
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The company said it sees fourth-quarter gross margin coming in about 3.4 percentage points below the year-earlier level, hurt by what it described as a worse-than-expected promotional environment, especially in footwear, as well as by rising costs and "a softer market for excess inventory."
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Speaking from the Oval Office, Obama says he has put together a professional team to help clean up what he calls the worse environmental disaster that America has ever seen.
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What's even worse is the thought of having to be a person watching their spouse go through this, being powerless to stop it, and being left in a position of worrying each time whether their loved one will come back alive, and if so how physically and emotionally damaged they will be.
MIND MELD: Memorable Short Stories to Add to Your Reading List (Part 2 of 2) 2009
vanishedone commented on the word worse
WeirdNet is taking no chances here:
(adj): bad; unfortunate
...
(adj): exceedingly bad
(adj): very bad
...
(adj): poor to middling in quality
February 6, 2008
ruby19xc commented on the word worse
Just for fun
February 19, 2010